German tourists are turning their backs on Turkey as a holiday destination in droves, according to data published by the “Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung” (GfK), Germany’s largest market research institute. Bookings by Germans for Turkish resorts for 2017 had declined by 58% by the end of January. German tourists are choosing other destinations due to terrorist attacks by either Islamic State jihadists or separatist PKK Kurdish fighters. As Doerte Nordbeck, a spokesperson for GfK said Germans are increasingly selecting Greece. “Greece is obviously benefiting from this trend, as is Egypt”, he underlined. Bookings for Greek tourism destinations were up by 67% at the end of January, as the country replaced Turkey as Germans’ second most popular destination, after the Balearic island, Nordbeck said. TUI, one of Germany’s top Tour Operators announced it had increased its room bookings in Rhodes, Crete and Kos by 40%.