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Tunisia travel up 10% as UK bucks global downward trend

Travel from the UK to Tunisia showed some recovery this month, just over a year on from the Sousse beach terrorist attacks which killed 38 people.

Data from the latest global travel insights report compiled by research firm Sojern reveals a 10% increase in trips to the North African country in July.

This comes despite a state of emergency being extended by a month until July 21 and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office maintaining its advise against all but essential travel to Tunisia.

The only flights from the UK are with Tunis Air from London to Tunis after tour operators withdrew services to Monastir and Enfidah airports.

The Sojern statistics show an overall slump in year-on-year travel intent to Tunisia (down 9%), Egypt (down 15%) and Turkey (down 14%) due to terrorist attacks on major tourist destinations this year.

However, the reports shows the UK bucking the global trends with a 10% increase in travel to Tunisia during July.

The decline in travel intent to Egypt is only 3% and “great interest” is being shown for Israel (up 33%) and Morocco (up 44%).

“Middle East marketers need to take note of the changing shifts in markets,” the reports says.

“The UK still shows strong travel intent to the region, so should be marketed to differently than other origins.

“Though political unrest is impacting year-over-year trends, some origin markets haven’t been significantly affected.

“Moreover, the region as a whole isn’t experiencing a ripple effect, which is good news.”

Germany is showing a 93% increase in travel to Croatia, and a 19% increase for Cyprus but a 24% drop in travel to Tunisia.

Meanwhile, Russia’s weak ruble seems to be leading to a decline in travel across the board, with travel increasing to only five out of 20 main destinations, including Tunisia, up by 35%.

Spain remains the most popular destination for UK travellers.

The top five short-haul destinations for identified by Sojern for European travellers this summer are Palma, Barcelona, London, Ibiza and Malaga.

The most popular long haul spots are New York City, Bangkok, Los Angeles, Bali and Miami.

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