Fewer British holidaymakers have booked a summer season holiday in the European Union this year amid continuing Brexit uncertainty, Thomas Cook has said.
The journey firm says nearly half of (forty eight%) of the vacations it offered up till the end of February had been to non-EU destinations, up 10% on closing yr.
Despite this, the company says Spain remains its most popular destination.
Its findings chime with separate Post Office figures showing forex sales for long-haul locations have jumped.
Sales of the Japanese yen have been up 12% up to now this year compared with ultimate, at the same time as sales of the Indonesian rupiah have improved by using 9%, Post Office Travel Money said.
The figures are based on Post Office transactions between 1 January and 23 April. The Post Office accounts for about a quarter of all UK forex transactions.
It said the most important boom in currency income to date this year has been for the Egyptian pound, which has seen a 687% yr-on-year growth.
Thomas Cook – thru which 19 million people e-book holidays each year – stated after Spain, Turkey had proved the maximum popular destination for its holidaymakers, accounting for 1 / 4 of its flight-simplest bookings up to now.
Thomas Cook said Tunisia became additionally “faring nicely” with package deal bookings to the country double that of remaining 12 months, with flight-most effective bookings up 4-fold.
Tourism to us of a fell dramatically after a 2015 terrorist attack in the hotel of Sousse in which 30 British tourists and eight others were killed through a gunman with hyperlinks to Islamic State.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office lifted its travel ban towards the united states remaining yr, prompting British operators to renew flights to Tunisia’s Mediterranean coast.
Thomas Cook has made two profit warnings within the past six months following drops in excursion bookings. In March, it targeted plans to shut 21 shops across u. S. A. And reduce greater than 300 jobs.
Chief executive Peter Fankhauser said it was nevertheless too early to tell the effect on bookings of the UK’s exit from the European Union being behind schedule to the quiet of October.
But he stated there has been “little question that the prolonged uncertainty around the manner and timing of Britain’s exit from the European Union has led many clients to press pause on their excursion plans for this summer season”.
