Holiday bookings to the eastern Mediterranean are rising rapidly as hotels cut prices and travellers reassess the risks of a possible expansion of the conflict in the Gulf.
Bookings to Cyprus, Turkey and parts of North Africa fell immediately after strikes carried out by the United States and Israel against Iran in late February. However, according to airlines, travel agents and industry data, demand has been steadily recovering even before the ceasefire agreement reached this week.
As the Financial Times reports, travellers are not only becoming less concerned about a wider conflict, but are also realising that some destinations affected by declining bookings are hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away from the hostilities.
“Consumers are opening their maps and realising that the Suez Canal is not connected to the Strait of Hormuz,” easyJet chief executive Kenton Jarvis told the Financial Times. “I think it has been a really good geography lesson.”
He added that hotels in the region “have put some great offers into the system, meaning you can get much better quality… than in Spain for the same price”.
Consumer searches for hotels in Egypt, Turkey and Cyprus have been steadily increasing in most weeks since mid-April, around six weeks after the conflict began, according to data from analytics firm Lighthouse.
Searches for Turkey and Egypt were about one-third higher in the second week of June compared to the first, while searches for Cyprus, which had been affected by a drone strike early in the conflict, rose by 29%.
“From May onwards, things improved dramatically,” said Nik Aristou, commercial director of luxury hotel group Muskita, which operates three hotels in Cyprus.
“In March we were 20% down for the summer season,” he said, adding that Muskita is now “recovering lost ground in travel bookings from the UK and Europe”.
The decline in bookings for later in the year from families, who typically book early and had already chosen other destinations, has been offset by demand from younger couples.
Before the conflict, the company expected growth this year and, although it may now only match 2025 levels, according to Aristou, that would have been unthinkable during the first weeks of the crisis.
“Business activity has returned to normal,” he said.
Some markets rebounded particularly quickly. easyJet said it moved “from a negative position in Egypt to a very strong positive year-on-year within just a few weeks,” as easyJet Holidays chief Garry Wilson told investors last month.
Wizz Air chief executive József Váradi said there has been a “very strong recovery in some markets… such as Turkey, Egypt and Cyprus, which were affected simply because they were very close to events”, with some now having “fully recovered.”
Johannes Thomas, chief executive of accommodation search platform Trivago, said there are “clear signs that British travellers are starting to return to destinations that were heavily affected by the Middle East conflict.” He added that Morocco and Egypt were “standout performers”, with searches up 22% compared to a year ago.
European demand has also strengthened, as travellers who would otherwise fly to or via the Gulf are now opting for holidays closer to home, even as Gulf airlines offer insurance schemes to encourage travellers to return.
The United Kingdom lifted its travel warning for the region this week, which had prevented travel agencies from booking trips to or via Gulf airports.
“Families will go on holiday,” Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary told the Financial Times before the changes were announced. “The question is whether they choose long-haul or Middle East holidays, or stay closer to home and holiday in Europe. We believe they will stay closer to home and holiday in Europe.”
Source: euro2day.gr
