General unrest weakens European travel

Travel industry in Europe suffered major decline, due to repeated incidents, such as terror attacks, carrier strikes and air disasters

Tourism officials reported a sudden decrease in flight and hotel bookings after the numerous incidents that shook Europe in the past few months. With the latest EgyptAir flight tragedy, things got even worse.

“If people have a feeling this is terrorist-related, then we probably will see a kind of softening of demand,” said Neil Sorahan, chief financial officer at Ryanair commented.

The Russian jetliner incident last year, terror attacks in Paris and Brussels, air carriers' strikes in Germany, France and Belgium disrupting air travel, all had a cumulative effect that led to the significant drop in bookings to European destinations.

Major tour operators such as Thomas Cook Group and TUI reported sudden decrease in bookings and profits. Meanwhile, the cruise business registered a slight increase.

Despite security concerns in Europe, latest World Travel & Tourism Council forecast shows that international travel is expected to grow to 3.5% in 2016, up 0.4% when compared to last year. “They change destinations, but they do not tend to stop traveling as a whole,” president David Scowsill declared.

While travel to Europe went down by 6% in the first quarter of this year, it surged for destinations in Asia and North America.