Speaking to media during a conference call on the company’s Q3 financial results this morning, Joussen said: "We are not on a mission [to back an immediate return to Tunisia], that depends heavily on the demand and if the Foreign Office (FCO) thinks it is safe."
The FCO amended its travel advice for Tunisia on July 26, no longer advising against travel to most of the country. It enables holidaymakers to return to areas including tourist resorts such as Sousse, where 30 British holidaymakers were killed in a terror attack in 2015.
“We are in the process of looking into it [demand] and I think it is building but it is not 100% - but I think it is coming back,” added Joussen.
Joussen went on to say he did see UK demand returning for Turkey, following a difficult 18 months for the destination.
“Turkey was historically a very strong margin business and the reason was the shortage of [bed] supply,” he explained.
“We have [had] the choice to shorten supply for next season but what we see now is that the demand is there. What I can say is that it is not only [demand from] Russia but we have seen European demand coming back.
“In order to get the right hotels we have made the decision not to shorten our capacity.”
Joussen also touched upon the recent anarchist anti-tourism protests in Spain, telling reporters he believed the popularity of Spain had created “a little bit of a challenge to the country” but maintained that he believed “most people are very happy with it.
“Tourism is a very healthy industry these days. [But] when the capacity is full, the capacity is full,” he added.
