Turkey, Greece and Egypt are among those countries counting the cost of Europe's migrant crisis and fears over terrorism, with new figures revealing a sharp fall in foreign arrivals. Egypt has suffered the most, with data showing that the number of tourists to the North African country so far in 2016 is down 46 per cent on the same period last year. The country’s main resort, Sharm el-Sheikh, has been virtually out of bounds to British visitors since October when the Russian Metrojet Flight 9268 was brought down in the Sinai region by terrorists. The Foreign Office responded by advising against air travel to the resort, prompting tour operators to pull out of the region. Greece, whose eastern islands are the first port of call for thousands of migrants fleeing conflict in Syria and Libya, has experienced a 11 per cent fall in visitors, following a seven per cent rise last year. Civil instability and terror attacks have kept visitors away from Turkey, which has seen a 9.9 per cent fall in arrivals so far this year. Source: Minister of Culture and Tourism Meanwhile Tunisia, which the Foreign Office has advised against travel to since a terror attack on the beach resort of Sousse last year, has experience an 18.7 per cent drop in numbers. And France has also witnessed a fall in visitors, down eight per cent so far this year - with the Paris attacks last November a probable cause. The figures collated by travel research group Euromonitor from the World Tourism Organisation also show where tourists are choosing instead, with Spain, Portugal and Croatia all experiencing large spikes in arrivals so far this year. Croatia has seen a 17 per cent surge, Spain 13.9 per cent and Portugal 15 per cent. It also said that Germany, Netherlands and Malta had experienced growth so far in 2016. Telegraph Travel last week reported on concerns about a shortage of accommodation in the Mediterranean this summer as British families eschew countries with a terror risk for traditional favourites such as Spain and Italy. Abta, the UK travel body, has warned holidaymakers of waning availability. Nadejda Popova, travel project manager at Euromonitor, said the latest EgyptAir plane crash is likely to further impact Egypt's struggling tourism industry. “Currently, Egypt’s tourism is surviving very much thanks to the heavily discounted prices used to lur budget travellers, and the question is how much are these low-spending tourists ready to visit Egypt in light of recent events?” she said. “The government must reassure travellers and potential tourists that the country is doing enough to uproot terrorism and secure the safety of travellers.” The country’s tourism minister, Hisham Zaazou, promised additional security measures earlier this year, including £26million worth of X-ray machines and body scanners, but it is not yet enough to convince the Foreign Office, which still advises against travel by air to Sharm el-Sheikh, effectively cutting off the popular Red Sea resort. Tunisia is also facing a battle to convince the UK government to declare it safe. Last week the Tunisian ambassador to the UK issue a plea to the Foreign Office to relax travel restrictions to the North African country, claiming the loss of tourism is crippling the economy.
New data from travel research group Euromonitor reveals that tourism in Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, Greece and France have been hit heavily by the migration crisis and terrorism: Egypt has suffered the most with a drop of 46% in tourists, YoY; terror attacks and restrictions have seen Tunisia's numbers fall by 18.7%; Greece, whose islands have been the first port of call for thousands of migrants, has been hit by a 11% fall in visitors; terror attacks and civil instability has caused a 9.9% drop in Turkey; and visitors to France are down 8% so far this year with the Paris attacks being the probable cause. The report also shows how many people who were previously tourists now stay home or go on holiday because they fear their lives will be at risk if they return home.