UK travelers continue to avoid Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco
Bikya Masr Staff
Giza Pyramids hope for more visitors.
CAIRO: British holidaymakers continue to avoid Egypt and Tunisia, over a year and a half since both countries ousted their former governments in popular uprisings.
Travel Weekly reported that research they had conducted showed that three times as many UK travelers were more likely to head to Egypt than Tunisia, despite more violent clashes taking place in Egypt over the past 8 months.
Morocco has also been affected by the so-called “Arab Spring” and a bomb attack that killed 15 people last year in the country.
“The results suggest the impact on attitudes to Egypt have been less profound despite the continuing unrest in the country, with a greater proportion of UK consumers professing a desire to visit Egypt than anywhere else in the Middle East and North Africa,” Travel Weekly reported in citing a survey from research firm TNS.
TNS also asked whether they would “definitely not visit on holiday”.
More than one in four adults said they would consider visiting Egypt, while 37 percent said they would definitely not go.
Just 13 percent would consider Tunisia, but almost three times as many, 36 percent, said they would not go to the country.
Morocco had one in five travelers who would consider a holiday, but one-third would not even entertain the idea.
Remarkably, two out of five people would “definitely not go” to Qatar after last year’s events, despite the country not being affected at all.
“This seems a case of mistaken identity. In fact, Qatar is considered stable enough to host the 2022 World Cup,” the study statement said.
Perceptions of the three major destinations seem to differ significantly by age group. More than half of young adults, aged 16-24, would consider a holiday to Egypt in the next year, but just 12 percent of those over 55. Conversely, 54 percent of over-55s would not entertain the idea of visiting Egypt.
Similarly, 51 percent of over-55s would not visit Tunisia and 49 percent not visit Morocco. But the proportions were lower among younger respondents: 34 percent of 25 to 54‑year‑olds would not go to Tunisia and 30 percent would not go to Morocco.
Among 16 to 34-year‑olds the proportion of Britons who would stay away was lower still: 21 percent would avoid Egypt, 22 percent Tunisia and 18 percent Morocco. On the plus side, 44 percent of the younger group would visit Egypt and 28 percent Morocco. However, only 16 percent said they would go to Tunisia.
Both Egypt and Tunisia have been boosting ad and promotional campaigns across the world to entice visitors to come to their countries, but continued unrest appears to have resulted in region-wide avoidance by British travelers.
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Tags: Egypt, featured, Morocco, Travel, Tunisia, UK
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