18 Jun 2026 ABTA statement on the FCDO change in level of advice to parts of the Middle East Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive of ABTA – The Travel Association said:“This is the most important development for tourism to and through the Middle East in some time, we know the Government won’t have taken this decision lightly.“The FCDO travel advice is an important tool for both businesses and customers, and while it remains to be seen how quickly a change in FCDO advice will translate into new bookings, we expect to see a positive impact.“We know from our research that people have been delaying booking their summer holiday because they wanted to see what happened with the conflict in the Middle East, and that the government travel advice is an important factor in confidence to travel.“While we’re not out of the woods yet, hopefully this change will open up the market more broadly – there are some very competitively priced holidays for this summer, so if you’re still to book, now is the time to do it.”Advice points:• It should be remembered that guidance has not been changed for every country in the region• The FCDO says that the situation remains unpredictable• We recommend people sign up to the FCDO travel alerts, and always check the latest advice before travel.
