TERROR THREAT HIKES PRICE OF HOLIDAYS

Hotel chiefs cash in as families rush to book ‘safe’ sunshine destinations

SPANISH hotel managers are increasing prices by up to 15 per cent to cash in on terror fears as they lure British families who want safe h oliday r esorts. The hikes mean a holiday for a family of four that cost £3,000 last year could come in at £3,300 or more this summer.

Travel giant Thomas Cook admitted yesterday that the average cost of its package deals in Spain for this summer was up by 9 per cent. Industry experts expect higher

prices across Europe because of increased hotel charges, the fall in the pound and an increase in the cost of airliner fuel.

Hoteliers in Spain and the Balearic Islands are cashing in on Britons and other holidaymakers turning their backs on destinations such as Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt that have been hit by terror attacks.

Thomas Cook said: ‘Hotel price inflation and increased air capacity has intensified competition for the Spanish islands. We have taken a decision to focus on higher margin, quality holidays, rather than volume growth.

‘As a result, UK charter bookings are slightly behind last year’s, while pricing is up 9 per cent.’

Joel Brandon-Bravo, director of the Travelzoo bookings website, warned: ‘Holidaymakers are likely to see similar increases in Portugal, Greece and Italy.

‘We saw prices to Spain increase in 2016 as demand shifted from Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey into Western European favourites.

‘Hoteliers capitalised on that increased demand, from the UK, Europe, Russia and beyond. I

‘Reasonable increases’

have heard from some UK operators that Spanish hoteliers are looking to increase prices by a further 5 to 15 per cent.’

Thomas Cook has seen a big increase in bookings for Greece – up by 500,000 to 2.5million.

Two years ago, holiday sales for Greece and its islands fell as the country was gripped by the Syrian refugee crisis and a financial crash. But British families appear to be returning in force, seeing it as a safer option than Turkey.

Peter Fankhauser, chief executive of Thomas Cook, said: ‘We have expanded our holiday offering to Greece and smaller destinations across Europe.

‘Bookings to Greece are up more than 40 per cent while demand for destinations such as Cyprus, Bulgaria, Portugal and Croatia is also strong. These trends are making up for continued weak demand for Turkey.’

Mr Fankhauser insisted that the increase in prices in Spain was not down to greed by hoteliers. He added: ‘There are reasonable increases given the market. We had very strong demand last year so it’s natural.’

Thomas Cook said there was no sign that Britons had been put off foreign holidays by the weak pound, but this had led to a drop in demand for trips to the US.