The majority of travel agents are confident that the UK’s holiday industry will continue to flourish despite the downturn, a new survey has revealed, in news which may please owners of Italy property.

Anyone who has snapped up an Italy property as a holiday rental investment will welcome the Advantage Travel Centres study, which shows 63 per cent of travel industry figures are optimistic about the future of the UK’s tourism industry.

Ian Bradley, spokesperson for the Association of Independent Tour Operators (Aito), said: "People are certainly more confident than they were even three months ago […] they’ve seen more enquiries and things are looking up.

"We’re in a much better state than we were this time last year, both tour operators and people within the industry."

A recent survey by Aito and Wanderlust found that 45 per cent of travel operators saw stable or increased booking levels this August compared to the same month last year.

The figures representing an eight percentage point improvement on those recorded during the organisations’ previous survey.

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