Report reveals fall in long-haul traveler numbers to Europe amid security fears

ForwardKeys, the travel data analysis company which monitors up to 14 million airline booking transactions per day, has revealed in its latest report that as a result of security fears, overall long-haul traveler numbers to Europe over the period June to August dropped 0.9%. This was despite promising numbers attending the European Cup football competition and a surge of bookings after Ramadan. Figures for the forthcoming month are also down 1.4% compared to this time last year.
According to ForwardKeys CEO, Olivier Jager, High-profile events such as UEFA’s European Cup and World Youth Day in Poland could not offset the damage caused by security concerns.”
Not all European countries were badly affected, though France, Belgium and Turkey were hit the hardest. There were attacks in Paris in November last year and January this year, plus suicide bombings targeting the Brussels’ transport system and the mass killings in Nice, all connected to Islamic terrorists. Additionally, there were the attacks on a train in Germany during a music festival in July, and a spate of incidents in Turkey throughout the year.
For the months June to August, arrivals in Turkey dropped 26.7%, in Belgium they dropped 21.4%, in France 9.6% and between 1.3% and 4.0% in Germany, Italy and the U.K. However, some destination countries seemed to benefit from being perceived as safer, with long-haul traveler numbers to Spain up 10%, Portugal up 5.2%, Poland up 26.1%, and Ireland up 18.1%. Scandinavia also saw an increase in arrival numbers.
Russia is also performing well, with arrivals up 18.2%, predominantly due to the increase in Chinese traveler numbers. However, arrivals from China to Europe fell 3.7% and arrivals from Japan to Europe fell 18%.