Exclusive: the best winners and losers of the season revealed in the race for British tourists
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Greece has soared in its summer appeal to British visitors, while France and Portugal have fallen in the European sunspot rankings.
As the peak season draws to a close, The Independent has analysed the Civil Aviation Authority’s latest passenger knowledge, by July 2022, to gain insight into which countries are effectively attracting uk tourists and those who are falling behind.
Among the classic Mediterranean destinations, Spain is the winner, with 3. 55 million passengers coming to and from British airports. The country has been the favorite destination of British tourists for decades.
But the position at the moment is taken by Greece, with 1. 33 million arrivals and departures. In the holiday ranking, Greece is sometimes fourth Spain, France and Italy.
Noel Josephides, chairman of Sunvil Holidays, said: “Greece dealt with the pandemic much better than anyone else and was welcoming and in a position to remain open while others were not.
“When we won the green light for overseas in May 2021 from the UK government, we already had smart bookings for the summer of 2021 and the call was continuing.
“Those who just don’t do it in 2021 because the summer was temporarily filled, then booked for 2022.
“Fortunately, demand has continued unabated with significant bookings in September and even early October. “
In July, no European country more than Spain or Greece reached one million air passengers to and from the UK.
Italy recorded 979,702 departures and arrivals, Turkey only with 930,915.
France is the most popular destination right now for British travelers in general, but in terms of flights, it ranks fifth: 809,476 other people flew to or from the country. However, more and more British tourists are crossing the Channel by sea or train. to France.
The table of the number of air passengers is very different from the pre-Covid figures for European holidays taken with any means of transport, with Portugal falling to 6th place.
There were 734,595 arrivals and departures from Portuguese airports (including Madeira and Azores). This figure is lower than the total of the Spanish Canary Islands.
After the first half dozen destinations from the UK, there is a large gap ahead of Cyprus (306,010) and Croatia (248,225)
Rounding out the top 10 Europeans: Bulgaria (161,863) and Malta (101,851).
None of north Africa’s most popular countries (Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia) reached 100,000 British visitors in July 2022, and Tunisia achieved 0. 9% of the number of UK visitors to Spain.
Paul Charles, managing director of consultancy The PC Agency, said: “It is encouraging to see millions of other people having the confidence to back up after the pandemic closures, despite the many flight cancellations.
“What is also transparent is that short-haul destinations have benefited greatly this summer from the continued restrictions in so many long-haul regions.
“This could be a trend we’ve been seeing in recent years, where consumers choose to be closer to home, perhaps for cost, fitness or environmental reasons. “
Beyond Europe and the Mediterranean, the United States welcomed through the largest number of travelers: 1. 78 million, almost precisely part of the number heading to Spain.
Last week, pan-European air navigation organisation Eurocontrol said summer flights to, from and within the UK had fallen by a sixth place in 2019.
London Heathrow, Europe’s busiest for decades, fell to fifth place: Istanbul, Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt.
Sources: Civil Aeronautics Authority, ONS
Source: Civil Aviation Authority
The fishing village of Loutro, Crete
Getty Images/iStockphoto
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