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Spain and Portugal see bookings drop as terror-struck destinations bounce back
Turkey has seen a 66% rise in holiday bookings from the UK this year, while bookings to Egypt are up almost 51% and Tunisia is 901% ahead.
Conversely, bookings to Spain and Portugal are down 2.5% and 0.2% respectively according to data from ForwardKeys and GfK, which analysed transactions by UK travel agents.
They said the findings show that recovery to tourism in the Middle Eastern and North African destinations from recent terror attacks has only just begun.
In terms of scheduled capacity, in the third quarter of this year, Egypt has only 46% of seats available three years ago, and Tunisia only 38%.
However, seats on direct flights from the UK to Turkey are back to 94% of what they were in 2015.
The latest ForwardKeys and GfK research – carried out for a joint presentation with HSBC Global Research – revealed that overall UK leisure travel is ahead 4.9% this summer.
ForwardKeys CEO and co-founder Olivier Jager said: "These findings illustrate the ultimate resilience of travel and tourism. Tourists are prepared to reassess their impressions of a destination if it manages to remain safe for an extended period of time. It’s encouraging that the countries previously affected by unrest are seeing their tourist marketing efforts pay off in hard figures."
David Hope, senior client insight director, GfK market research, added: "The growth is driven by the dynamism of short and mid haul summer destinations, up by 7.7%. These destinations represent around 60% of British international travel in the summer period.
"British tourists are flocking back to Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt, after the security incidents in 2015 and 2016. Spain and Portugal will see slightly fewer tourists, while other European destinations, including Greece, Croatia and Bulgaria, maintain an optimistic outlook.
"The full recovery of North African destinations will require some time. This summer, the scheduled air capacity will be only half of what it was in 2015 for Tunisia and Egypt."
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Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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