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Travel experts noticing a shift in vacation plans due to recent attacks in Europe

After recent terrorist attacks in places like France and Belgium, you may be questioning whether travel to those countries is a good idea.

But even though France has gained a lot of attention with three high profile attacks in just 18 months, travel experts say people aren't being deterred.

"People are still travelling to France, France is the world's busiest country for tourism. Most international visitors go to France of all countries in the world," said Rochelle Turner, online research director at the World Travel and Tourism Council.

She says travellers feel there are more security measures in place in Western European countries.

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The same is being noted by Brad Davies of Virtually There Travel.

"In terms of France, we haven't seen any falloff whatsoever," said Davies

Travellers staying away from Turkey

Both say they've seen notable moves in travel plans, but that the changes usually involve Turkey or Egypt.

Davies says he's had clients book trips to Turkey but given recent events they've opted for another European destination.

"Part of the fact is that these tickets to Europe are usually booked often times six or seven months in advance and you can't [cancel], but you can shift destinations," said Davies.

It's not just his clients who are personally changing plans, it's large companies too.

"I had clients that were booked on a cruise line hoping to visit Turkey as part of the trip. The cruise line [chose] to maintain their duty of care for liability reasons. They actually skipped the port entirely and shifted the trip over to Athens."

As far as Egypt is concerned, there are fewer inquiries now.

"Egypt, which was popular several years ago, is now certainly on the back burner."

Some more willing to change plans

Davies says for those who are planning to visit friends and family, dates and destinations are usually fixed.

"Those trips are booked well in advance, and it usually surrounds a family event, so there's been no change to that."

He also finds those of a younger generation aren't as worried, often expressing the opinion that they won't let certain events hold them back.

"For people who are comfortably retired, they've got a long list of destinations that they plan to attend. They'll change one destination for another knowing full well that these tragic events do have a cycle. So, what would be a difficult destination now could be a safe destination several years from now."

But the World Travel and Tourism Council finds travellers to be much more resilient overall these days.

"We don't know when [these atrocities] are going to happen, and where they're going to happen, and yes that might put some people off, but for a lot of people, they don't want to stop their daily lives, and they don't want to stop their holidays on the basis of what might happen in a destination. Because what might happen in one destination could unfortunately easily happen somewhere else in today's day and age," said Turner.

Be vigilant

Unsure travelers can keep an eye out on the Government of Canada advisory page to help make a decision about whether or not to go. But if the plan is to travel regardless, there are things to keep in mind.

"As all people do in their home lives and when they travel, we just have to be a little extra vigilant and make sure we're following the advice that our countries are giving us. We're following the advice that our insurers are giving us and that we are trying to stay as safe as we can when we are traveling to destinations," said Turner.

She also recommends avoiding large crowds and knowingly dangerous streets.