The UK’s major two tour operators both decided to cancel all flights and holidays to the north African destination until November 1 at the earliest.

The Foreign Office is continuing to advise against all non-essential travel to Tunisia, which both operators said was the main reason for the cancellation of the summer programmes to Tunisia.

The FCO advice has been in place since 30 British holidaymakers were killed by a gunman at a beach resort near Sousse last summer.

Tunisia also continues to be in a state of emergency and implemented a nationwide night-time curfew last week following public unrest, although the governments of France, Germany and Italy have not ruled out travelling to the destination.

Travel agents expressed sadness about the impact on the Tunisian tourism industry but were not surprised about the decision to cancel holidays for this summer.

Demand for destinations, particularly in the western Med, is also being driven by the continued ban on flights to Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt and nervousness about going to Turkey – two cruise lines dropped calls in Turkey this week.

Miles Morgan, owner of Miles Morgan Travel, said: “My feeling is one of sadness for the Tunisian people whose livelihoods depend on tourism. But I understand from the tour operators’ perspective why they have made this decision. It’s going to be a bonanza year for Spain including the mainland, Balearics and Canaries – they are set for the most amazing year. The Canaries have already had a bonanza winter.”

Morgan said that higher demand for Spanish destinations was likely to drive price up as capacity tightened in the run-up to summer.

Demand and supply

“It’s about demand and supply, and there’s no doubt the price is going to go up,” he added. “The advice agents should give to customers is to book early – don’t hang about because prices to Spain are not going to go down.”

Julia Lo Bue-Said, managing director of consortium Advantage Travel Partnership, agreed that there was already a “lack of capacity” in the western Med and reiterated the need to book early to Spain and Portugal, where bookings have increased by up to 30%.

“It is causing these ‘safe’ destinations to yield better margins by increasing their prices,” she added. “The message this year is pretty clear – if you are thinking about a holiday to the western Med, it would be advisable not to leave it too late.”

Dave Batley, from Savvi Travel, is also seeing increased interest in destinations such as Spain, Greece and Cyprus this year. “Prices are higher for Spain so clients are having to pay a bit more,” he added. “Last year, you were also getting really good deals to Greece but you’re not going to get the same deals this summer.”

City analyst Wyn Ellis, from Numis Securities, added: “There seems to be a big swing back to the perceived safe destinations in the western Med, such as Spain and Portugal, and away from the likes of Tunisia, Egypt and even Turkey to an extent.”