A German tourism comparison website said Tuesday that Egypt has managed to take the lion's share of German tourists' bookings in 2017.
Six weeks after the start of the season, this year's trends seem clear, said Check24. The site evaluated tourist bookings so far in 2017 which show that people are buying more tickets to Egypt, Greece and the Dominican Republic, while travel to Italy, Spain and Turkey declined from last year's rate.
Egypt has won the most reservations this year, during the first six weeks of the season, with an 84% increase in the number of travelers, compared to the same period last year.
Check24 said Greece has also seen an increase in tourists, at 44%, while the Dominican Republic saw a 24% increase in bookings from 2016.
Travelers to Turkey declined by 24% this year, and the tourist influx to Italy dropped by 19%, and Spain by 12%. Nevertheless, Spain remains the most alluring destination for German visitors.
Egypt has been battling to recover the badly-affected tourism sector over the course of 2016, after years of political turmoil since the 25 January uprising. This was exacerbated by the downing of the Russian plane in October 2015, which killed all 224 passengers and crew on board, most of them Russian tourists.
Different countries have placed travel bans on flights to Egypt’s destinations and demanded certain security measures be implemented in Egyptian airports for the resumption of direct flights to be considered.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
