HOLIDAY-makers in Bristol and the South West are voting with their feet following a spate of terrorist attacks in the Eastern Mediterranean.
A leading travel agent has revealed that people booking their annual break are turning their backs on destinations such as Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey.
Some industry commentators have said that prices in Spain and France have soared as a result of the exodus.
And this week Thomas Cook announced that it has switched 400,000 seats this summer from Turkey to Spain, with the same number again held in reserve.
The Foreign Office has warned people not to travel to Tunisia following two terrorist attacks including one in which 33 Tui customers were killed in the resort of Sousse.
Airlines in the UK are still banned from flying to Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt, with no sign when airports in Egypt will be given the all clear.
Turkey has also been badly hit with terror attacks in the country are occurring more frequently.
The fact Turkey shares a border with Syria and there has been an increase in unrest has led to a fall in bookings. Last month ten tourists were killed by a suicide bombing which took part in the heart of Istanbul.
The attacks took place in the heart of the tourist district and resulted in cruise ships canceling excursions to the city.
Miles Morgan is one of the best known independent travel agents in the South West.
And he has noticed a marked shift in his customers' holiday habits this year.
Mr Morgan is also warning that people who want to go to Spain should book as soon as possible or run the risk of missing out altogether.
He said: "In all of my 30 years working in the travel industry I have never seen such a shift in business from the Eastern Mediterranean resorts back to the old favourites of Spain and the Canaries.
"Whilst airlines are reacting to this trend and moving their planes to the more popular places such as Majorca and the Canary Islands the sheer number of people changing their holiday plans will mean it will be the hotels, apartments and villas that will sell out well before the start of the summer getaway."
Mr Morgan added: "The changes n the market have come about because of the fear of terrorism in the Eastern Mediterranean after incidents in both Tunisia and Istanbul. I really feel for workers in the travel industry in Turkey in particular."
He added: " I think everyone now understands we live with a constant threat wherever we are these days but the sheer size of Turkey means that the beach resorts are many hundreds of miles away from the current areas of unrest.
"If there were bombings in Aberdeen it would probably not affect the holiday plans of people travelling to Newquay but that is exactly what is happening at the moment."
Mr Morgan said: "You can never say anywhere is 100 per cent safe these days but certainly the public are viewing Spain as a safer option.
"I have no doubt this will result in much lower prices for the Eastern Med."
The travel agent is warning people who want to book for Spain to do so sooner rather than later or run the risk of losing out all together.
According to reports bookings to Turkey by British holidaymakers are down by nearly half.
Meanwhile Egypt's main resorts and the whole of Tunisia are still on the Foreign Office list of destinations that should be avoided.
Thomas Cook Airlines fares to the Canaries for the first full week of the school summer holiday is 79 per cent higher than to Turkey's Mediterranean coast.
From Manchester, fares to Las Palmas are 23 per cent higher than to Dalaman, even though the distances are identical.
A spokesperson for the travel association Abta said: "Spanish hoteliers have always taken a sensible approach to pricing taking a long, rather than a short-term view.
"However, realistically such significant increases in demand are bound to put pressure on their natural instinct to keep prices down."
Source: Terror alerts mean Bristol holiday-makers are turning their backs on Turkey
No comments:
Post a Comment