BRIGHTER THINKING OCTOBER 2013 | Page 2

INTRODUCTION At  last! The  major  economies  of  the  world  seem  to  be  pulling  themselves   out  of  nega:ve  or  sta:c  growth.  A  return  to  a  level  of  con?dence  by   travel  organisa:ons  in  every  sector,  not  seen  for  the  best  part  of  ?ve   years,  seems  to  be  the  story  of  the  moment. government  which  almost  had  the  world’s  biggest  economy   defaul:ng  on  its  debts. Perhaps  the  only  certainty  for  travel  organisa:ons  is  that  we  all,   regardless  of  which  sector  we  operate  in,  must  be  prepared  to   increasingly  trade  in  an  uncertain  world,  a  short  term  environment   and  one  perhaps  more  impulsive  than  before. The  UK  economic  output  rose  by  0.8%  between  July  and  September,   o?cial  GDP  ?gures  show  with  the  O?ce  for  Na:onal  Sta:s:cs   sta:ng  there  had  been  a  "fairly  strong"  performance  across  all   sectors.  The  recent  results  build  on  a  0.7%  GDP  rise  for  the  UK  in  the   April-­?June  period  and  is  the  best  quarterly  performance  since  2010. To  quote  the  Deputy  Prime  Minister  Nick  Clegg  the  ?gures  "show   that  we  are  ?rmly  on  the  road  to  economic  recovery".   The  story  is  the  same  across  the  US,  Eurozone  and  wider  a?eld. However,  while  the  global  economy  is  heading  in  the  right  direc:on   the  momentum  remains  stubbornly  sluggish  and  prone  to  the   impact  of  global  events  such  as  the  recent  shut  down  of  the  U.S   Steve  Dunne Brighter  Group  execu:ve  chairman