Travel retailers report a “softening” in demand for Egypt since the explosion of violence in Israel on October 7 and the subsequent assault on Gaza.
The reports follow concerns already raised by some in the trade about the impact of the Israel-Hamas war on travel enquiries to certain parts of the eastern Mediterranean.
Speaking at a Travel Weekly Business Breakfast on the opening day of Abta’s Travel Convention in Bodrum on Tuesday, Midcounties Cooperative chief operating officer Claire Evans noted “quite a bit of softening” in demand for Egypt.
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She said: “Price and bookings have softened. We’ve not seen significant cancellations, but there has been a definite softening of demand going into the winter.”
Evans reported: “We’re giving customers the opportunity to move [bookings] if they choose.”
Annelene Hutton, managing director of Dawson and Sanderson, agreed, saying: “We’ve seen no cancellations but a lowering of enquiries for the region.”
Gary Lewis, The Travel Network Group chief executive, said: “The first week of October saw really solid trading [to the region].”
Since October 7, he said: “Cruise in the region is trading down [and] trading is a little down generally. This industry is impacted by anything and everything.”
Fred Olsen Travel retail director Paul Hardwick said the impact of violence in the region was “always a worry”, noting: “Our industry is so volatile.” But he insisted: “Demand for the rest of the world is really high.”
Other agents have also noted trading in general remains unaffected overall by the violence.
The Advantage Travel Partnership chief commercial officer Kelly Cookes said members’ sales remained “particularly strong” despite the conflict, adding that bookings this week were up 10% on last week and 9% up year on year.
“We are not seeing any significant impact on bookings or on demand for travel this time,” said Cookes, who added: “Our thoughts remain with those who have been affected by the recent outbreaks of violence across the world, and we continue to monitor the situation very closely.”
Audley Travel chief executive Nick Longman said around 15% of the operator’s Middle East departures had been affected, either because the operator has cancelled trips until the end of November or because clients have postponed trips.
But he insisted clients’ knowledge of the size of the Middle East region and different countries meant they would still travel to countries such as Morocco and Egypt.
“The vast majority of people booked to go to the Middle East are still travelling. They might want a little bit of reassurance,” he said.
He expected the war to have very little impact on general trading.
He said: “I don’t think the Middle East conflict will have an impact on travelling elsewhere. Demand is really strong and continues to be. May be what we will see is people thinking where will I go, and there might be people taking a quote and then waiting to see how it plays out.”
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