Happy Days May Not Be Here Yet, But Optimism Prevails

Several polls and economic outlooks released in the past couple of days indicate that Canadians are becoming more optimistic about the economy in the early days of 2010.

That optimistic outlook has been backed by GNN bloggers such as Kevin Thistle, Tiffany Gordon and Kyle German, who have all indicated in their contributions this week a positive outlook, even if they do admit that there are still challenges ahead.

They are not alone.

A year ago when the recession was just hitting high gear, a GNN Poll asked the Canadian golf industry when it saw the economy turning around. At the time, 49 per cent said 2010 was the earliest we could hope to begin a turnaround.

Whether it’s because of current economic indicators or just sticking to their guns, the industry is in a somewhat good mood about the future now that 2010 is here.

This week’s GNN Poll says 80 per cent of respondents rate their outlooks on 2010 as positive in one degree or another, with 76 per cent saying that they are cautiously optimistic and four per cent going much farther with their rosy outlooks and saying happy days are here again.

Personally, I’m not ready to do the beer barrel polka just yet about the economy, but I do tend to fall into the cautiously optimistic crowd.

There are challenges ahead that still need to be addressed that may affect both golf operators and their customers/members, such as rising household and government debts, the possibility of increased interest rates, unemployment and the effect of the HST in Ontario and British Columbia.

Any or all of these factors could affect business in 2010, so it’s not surprising that 12 per cent of respondents feel that this year will be more of the same as 2009, while eight per cent say they’ve still got those low-down economy blues.

So, how are you feeling about the economy?

We’ll leave the poll up for the weekend so be sure to drop by and cast your vote on your mood for 2010. As always, feel free to discuss the matter at greater length inside the GNN Forum.

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