Brits flock to El Gouna

El Gouna, the Red Sea’s premier leisure destination, today announces the UK as its third largest source market for 2006. The ranking is the highest ever achieved by the UK, which in 2000 was still only the 9th largest source of tourists for the destination.

The trend not only demonstrates the increasing popularity of El Gouna with British holidaymakers but also the increasing significance of UK tourists compared to other European countries.

The highest ranking source country is still Germany; a distinction that the country has held consistently for the last eight years. In 2006, Germany accounted for nearly a quarter of all arrivals but in the past this figure has been nearer to a third. As a result, the dominance of the German market is slowly being challenged, in line with the increasing resurgence of the UK market.

Belgium has been the second largest tourist market to El Gouna since 2004, yet while the Belgian overall market share has remained largely consistent over this time, the UK’s share has more than doubled during the same period.

The resort’s popularity with the British holidaymaker is also demonstrated by the arrival of new tour operators featuring it for 2007. Cadogan Holidays will introduce El Gouna for the first time by selling the 5* Mövenpick Resort & Spa El Gouna, while from May 2007, First Choice will also begin to brochure the resort, featuring the all inclusive 4* Three Corners Ocean View, 4* all inclusive Three Corners Rihana and 5* bed and breakfast Mövenpick Resort & Spa El Gouna. The new operators will join those such as Longwood Holidays, Thomson, Thomas Cook, Libra and Beds4All whose ongoing presence in the resort have contributed a large part in this year’s success within the UK market.

Olympic Holidays, a tour operator already similarly featuring El Gouna, has also experienced an increase in demand for customers booking the resort. The El Gouna passenger total was up 3% year on year and the average duration of stay increased from nine to ten days. Couples remain the destination’s prime customer for the operator and the largest growth was experienced by the 5* Sheraton Miramar. New for the 2007 winter season, the operator will introduce the 5* Mövenpick Resort & Spa El Gouna on an all inclusive basis.

For further information on El Gouna, visit elgouna.com.