European destinations hit by Brussels terror attacks
Several major European destinations have seen a double digit fall in the numbers planning visits following the terrorist attacks in Brussels.
Flight searches for trips to London are down 29% week-on-week, for trips to Paris they’re down by 35% and Berlin searches have dropped by 38%. The numbers planning trips to Brussels itself have fallen 51% following the triple bombing on March 22.
The data, from performance marketing engine Sojern which analyses information from some of the world’s leading travel brands, shows that the drop in searches of flights to Brussels was highest from the UK travellers, from where there was a week-on-week decline of 67% on Easter Monday.
However, almost all major origin countries for travel to Brussels saw a double-digit week-on-week drop.
There was a big increase in travel intent from the US on the day of the attack, but this was likely due to the vast media coverage, said Sojern. Bookings to Brussels from the US were down 9% week-on-week on the day of the attacks.
Flight searches for Brussels were down by 50% on March 27, while bookings were down 62%.
One of the reasons for the lack of searches for flights to Brussels from most markets could be the well-publicised ongoing closure of Brussels’ main intenational airport, which has not said when it will be able to reopen due to the amount of damage in the departure hall caused by two explosions.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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