We spoke to Derek Moore, AITO Chairman, and he shared his thoughts on Spain and the recent terrorist attack.

The bomb attack in Mallorca last week has once again brought the spectre of terrorism into our consciousness and made us ask searching questions of our responsibilities to ourselves and our clients. Should we be sending travellers to Spain? Will people be safe?

When it comes to holidays, the British are a resilient lot but we’re not foolhardy. We are typically well-informed and can, to a large extent, can evaluate our level of personal risk. It takes a lot for us to forego a holiday and I fail to see travellers being put off by a relatively isolated incident. To put things in a British context, last week was the equivalent of an incident on the Isle on Man and that is unlikely to put anyone off visiting Cornwall or London. When speaking with AITO members, they have all said that people are not being overly cautious – it’s very much a case of full steam ahead.

I can appreciate that many agents out there may be under pressure from clients seeking reassurance about travelling to Spain. Cancelling holidays is exactly what the terrorists want us to do and there aren’t many places left to visit if we all abandon countries touched by terrorism. I would consider myself extremely unfortunate to be caught up in anything like last week’s incident and it certainly would not stop me from travelling to Spain or recommending it to others. While the FCO advice for visiting Spain is ambiguous, the threat level is at a similar level to that for the USA, so I think that agents should tentatively encourage clients to travel. There are some incredible deals to be had in Spain and the risk is really no more than that which we face in the UK.

The Spanish tourist industry has been incredibly supportive of the UK travel trade – fam trips, agents’ training, sponsorship of events, hosting of conferences, etc., and now is the time to reciprocate and demonstrate our support for the Spanish tourism industry. Friends stay together in times of trouble and, rest assured, I cannot wait for my next trip to Spain. Derek Moore.