Holidaymakers fear after Nice and Turkey violence

On Thursday evening, a terror attack in Nice left 84 people dead - with a further 300 taken to hospital. Meanwhile, in Turkey, an attempted military coup has so far seen over 200 fatalities over the course of the weekend.

The number of tourists visiting Turkey has dropped dramatically in recent years, due to a rise in terror attacks.

Lurgan travel agents have received calls from customers eager to know whether it is safe to go ahead with their travel plans.

“Recent events have, unfortunately, affected the holiday plans of our customers,” explained Delia Aston, owner of Clubworld Travel. “Cruises have been impacted, as many passengers are not being flown into Istanbul - instead they’re flying into Athens.”

However, some tourists have not been deterred from holidaying in the country.

“We had one cancellation today,” shared Delia, “but none of those travelling to the beach resorts have cancelled. People are just reluctant to travel to Istanbul.”

Terry Murphy, founder of Terra Travel in Lurgan, told how travel has transitioned in recent months: “In the first few months of 2016, most travel agents reported good business - but once the vote on the EU came out and the Euro was affected, things changed. People were holding back on planning holidays because of the uncertainty about Brexit’s outcomes.

“Turkey was suffering badly already, with a colossal drop of 40-50% in its tourism. It’s a bit early to judge how last weekend’s events will affect things, but it’s certainly not the atmosphere people want to go into on holiday.”

With regards to France, Terry suggested that the future might be equally as uncertain: “Events in Nice will have a dramatic effect - a lot of our customers would travel to Paris and Nice on city breaks. People are phoning in for reassurance but there’s no real way of guaranteeing anything.”

Those travelling abroad can stay updated at www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice