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Turkey and Greece benefit from pain in Spain

Demand for holidays to Turkey and Greece has spiked as people search for alternatives after the government imposed quarantine restrictions on travellers returning from Spain.

Latest search data from icelolly.com shows that Tenerife, Majorca and Costa Blanca maintained the top-three search positions last week but dropped off after the government’s announcement late on Saturday.

The Antalya areas of Turkey (pictured) and Corfu both had more searches than Tenerife on Sunday.

Corfu, Crete, Rhodes and Zante all saw their shares of search rise by between 24% and 45% week-on-week, the data reveals.

Searches for last-minute departures for August saw a “big increase”, together with an uplift in interest in 2021 holidays, with notable increases for April, May and July.

The results appear to show consumer determination to take overseas holidays this summer in defiance of government warnings that quarantine measures could swiftly be introduced if destination countries show increased levels of Covid-19.

Chris Webber, head of travel deals at icelolly.com, said: “The news of Spain’s change in FCO status and the need to quarantine had an instant impact on searches.

“Destinations such as Tenerife and Majorca dropped down the most-searched list on Sunday.

“People have already started looking for alternatives, with Turkey and the Greek islands picking up those searches.

“August 2020 is still in high demand, even more so on Sunday than across the week as a whole.”

Interest in 10-night holidays picked up for the first time in a few weeks, although searches for seven-night breaks saw the biggest week-on-week share increase.

Meanwhile, all-inclusive operator Club Med revealed that customers are  increasingly turning to holidays further in the future due to the impact of the need to quarantine for travellers returning from Spain.
This week’s bookings for October half-term are up 42% year-on-year, while New Year’s Eve week is up 7%.
The top destinations searched for on the Club Med website last week were France, Greece and Turkey.

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