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Tunisia tipped for UK visitor surge


Juliet Dennis & Ben Ireland World Travel Market, London


Tunisia is being tipped for a comeback next year as Egypt complains it is being left behind because of the British government’s continued ban on flights to Sharm el-Sheikh.


Both destinations have


suffered a downturn in British holidaymakers as a result of travel bans imposed following terrorist attacks in 2015. While the Foreign Office lifted the ban to Tunisia in July, just over two years after the Sousse terrorist massacre, it still blocks UK air travel to Sharm. Tunisia’s prospects were supported by its inclusion, alongside Italy and Greece, as a destination most likely to attract more UK holidaymakers next year in the ‘2017 Industry Report’ by World Travel Market, the trade show held in London this week. The Tunisian National Tourist


Office in the UK predicts British visitor numbers will more than double from 28,000 this year to 65,000-plus in 2018. A key factor is Thomas Cook’s decision to reintroduce flights next spring. A poll of 1,000 UK


Tunisia tourism minister Salma Elloumi Rekik


holidaymakers, conducted for WTM’s report, also showed 20% felt a trip to Tunisia was now an option, varying from “somewhat likely” to “extremely likely”. Tunisia tourism minister Salma


Elloumi Rekik said: “The message is we are open for business. As a country we have changed, and we have a new democracy.” Tunisia’s prospects contrast with


Sharm’s, where a UK flight ban has been in place since November 2015 following the terrorist bombing of a Russian charter flight. Nasser Kamel, Egypt’s ambassador to the UK, warned the UK was “lagging behind” other countries in terms of tourism because of the travel ban. Kamel said Egypt had spent


between $30 million and $50 million upgrading the airport, and countries such as Germany and Japan had resumed flights. He said: “Sharm is one of the


safest airports – I would daresay safer than some here in the UK. “As far as the Egyptian


government is concerned, we have implemented a joint action project and upgraded security at Sharm [airport]. It has been so successful that the whole world, except Britain, has resumed flights.”


3


CTO chairman Dionisio D’Aguilar


STORIES HOT


Caribbean rues Brits’ ‘ignorance’


Ben Ireland World Travel Market, London


Consumer “ignorance” of Caribbean geography will cost the region millions in marketing spend as it tries to recover from the impact of hurricanes Irma and Maria.


The Caribbean Tourism


Organisation was at World Travel Market this week to hammer home its “business as usual” message. When asked about mainstream


media coverage, chairman Dionisio D’Aguilar, tourism minister for the Bahamas, said: “Bad news sells.” He added: “When you are sitting


in the Bahamas and hearing what’s going on and then you look outside and can see what’s actually going on, you wonder whether reporters are in the same country.” D’Aguilar acknowledged


some islands were “absolutely devastated” by the category- five hurricanes, but added: “We will have to spend millions and millions of dollars to say 75% of islands are not devastated.” CTO secretary general Hugh


Riley pointed out there are 1,400 miles between the Bahamas and


Tobago, adding: “If something happened in the north of the UK, it probably wouldn’t affect your visit to London.” He said “a lot of it is general


ignorance”, adding that tourists often confused islands, such as Antigua with Anguilla and the Bahamas with Barbados. He said a dramatic hurricane


video from a previous year had been broadcast widely by news websites. The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association has since set up Caribbeantravelupdate.com, a website for travel professionals and consumers to see in real-time where is affected by hurricanes. The CTO and CHTA are aiming


to raise $1 million through the Caribbean Coalition for Tourism Promotion Challenge Fund to drive the ‘open for business’ message. UK visitor numbers to the Caribbean between January and June were 4.8% up year on year but are forecast to be 0.9% down between November and April 2018, according to flight booking analyst ForwardKeys. This week Carnival Corporation


ships began to return to hurricane- hit destinations such as Grand Turk, St Thomas and Puerto Rico.


9 November 2017 travelweekly.co.uk 5


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