Summer holidaymakers opting for ‘more familiar, easy-to-reach locations’ as travel industry counts cost of Middle East conflict
Holidaymakers who had planned to visit the eastern Mediterranean this summer are moving their trips to the west and the Caribbean because of the US-Israel war on Iran, travel companies have said.
Travellers from the UK and mainland Europe are increasingly swapping their holiday destinations away from Cyprus, Turkey and Greece towards Italy, Spain, Malta and Croatia, as the region around the Middle East grapples with flight cancellations and airspace closures.
Tui, Europe’s biggest holiday operator, said demand had risen sharply in recent days for holidays in Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cape Verde this summer as customers opted for “familiar, easy‑to‑reach locations”.
“While we are seeing some cancellations in the affected areas, these are currently outweighed by customers choosing to amend their plans instead,” Neil Swanson, a director at Tui, said.
