Earlier this month, luxury travel and trend forecaster Virtuoso announced findings that showed an influx of interest in fall and holiday travel to a number of countries, straying from results found in previous years.
Virtuoso examined nearly $41 billion in transactions to show where people were planning to head this fall and winter season. The findings, announced during the 30th annual Virtuoso travel week in Las Vegas—known as the "Fashion Week of Travel"—show a major upswing in popularity among a number of Middle Eastern and North African countries, including Turkey, Morocco, and Egypt.
Popular European countries for travelers (including France, Italy, and Greece) continued to draw in visitors, all making an appearance in Virtuoso's list of the top 10 destinations for the upcoming season.
"While Italy, France and the United Kingdom remain robust for us, our clients are starting to consider Turkey again, and I am particularly heartened to see demand for Egypt returning," said Mollie Fitzgerald, co-owner of Virtuoso member agency Frontiers International Travel, to CNBC. "A year ago, I did not have a single client trip planned for Egypt. Now I'm planning trips there for more than a dozen clients."
Following a string of terrorism instances in 2016 and the implementation of recent tariffs imposed by the current U.S. administration, interest in traveling to Turkey dropped in previous years. This year, planned trips during the fall and winter season are up 310 percent, while Egypt and Morocco are also seeing impressive gains: 264 percent and 144 percent, respectively.
The findings also highlighted interest in travel to New Zealand and South Africa, as those countries welcome their spring and summer seasons.
