UK holidaymakers shun Marrakech with travel searches down by HALF after British tourist jailed for 'homosexual acts'

  • Hotel searches in Marrakesh down by 46% following Ray Cole's arrest
  • Mr Cole, 69, imprisoned for 'homosexual acts', prompting a huge backlash
  • Campaigners have since urged potential visitors to avoid the country

By Simon Cable for MailOnline

Published: 02:33 EST, 9 October 2014 | Updated: 06:16 EST, 9 October 2014

UK travellers are turning their backs on Marrakech after a tourist was jailed last month for 'homosexual acts'.

Travel searches are down by nearly half after the it was revealed Ray Cole had been imprisoned in the Moroccan city, according to travel website Trivago.co.uk.

Travel interest to Morocco as a whole is said to have slumped by 31 per cent.

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Price comparison website Trivago say that hotel searches to Marrakesh have decreased by 46 per cent since it was revealed that British tourist Ray Cole had been imprisoned last month

Price comparison website Trivago say that hotel searches to Marrakesh have decreased by 46 per cent since it was revealed that British tourist Ray Cole had been imprisoned last month

Mr Cole, 69, from Kent, flew back into Gatwick Airport on Tuesday after spending 20 days in jail in the north African country, a move which prompted a huge backlash across the world.

He was detained along with his friend Jamal Jam Wald Nass when police found 'homosexual images' on his phone.

Foreign Office guidelines state that homosexuality is a crime in Morocco.

He described the experience as a 'total nightmare' on his return to the UK.

As the news of Mr Cole's arrest and imprisonment spread, campaigners took to Morocco’s official tourism Facebook page to urge potential visitors to avoid the country

As the news of Mr Cole's arrest and imprisonment spread, campaigners took to Morocco's official tourism Facebook page to urge potential visitors to avoid the country

Mr Cole, 69, from Kent, spent 20 days in jail in the north African country after police found ‘homosexual images’ on his phone

Mr Cole, 69, from Kent, spent 20 days in jail in the north African country after police found 'homosexual images' on his phone

Mr Cole was four weeks into a five-week holiday in Morocco when he was detained by police.

He had gone to Marrakech to see 20-year-old Jamal Jam Wald Nass after developing a friendship on Facebook.

The pair were stopped by police in Marrakesh as they were waiting at a bus stop.

A campaign with the #freeraycole hashtag was set up on Twitter along side a Facebook page and online petition.

As the news spread throughout the media, campaigners took to Morocco's official tourism Facebook page to urge potential visitors to avoid the country.

Mr Cole said on his return: 'I've seen things I never knew existed. It's not a prison, it's a concentration camp.'

Mr Cole, 69, from Kent, flew back into Gatwick Airport on Tuesday where he was reunited with his family

Mr Cole, 69, from Kent, flew back into Gatwick Airport on Tuesday where he was reunited with his family

He said the attitudes to homosexuality in Morocco 'are about 100 years out of date'. 

'They seemed to think that I was some kind of sex tourist, but I'm not and I wasn't.'

When hotel searches made by UK travellers on Monday 6 and Tuesday 7 October were compared to searches made on the same days the previous week (September 29 and 30), Trivago found that interest to Marrakesh had dropped by 46 per cent.

Although the largest decline in hotel searches occurred in Marrakech, travel interest to Morocco as a whole decreased by 31 per cent over the same period.

With most stories reported in the media on Monday, October 6, this day saw the greatest decline in travel interest.

Compared to Monday, September 29, hotel searches decreased by 52 per cent in Marrakech and 40 per cent to the country as a whole.

Trivago is the world's largest hotel price comparison website, and the survey is based on website visits from 75 million global monthly users.

Morocco has been a popular destination for British tourist who travel to the north African country for winter sun

Morocco has been a popular destination for British tourist who travel to the north African country for winter sun

Denise Bartlett, a spokesman for Trivago, said: 'With campaigners on Morocco's official tourism Facebook page deeming the country unsafe for British tourists, it seems their plan to boycott the country was initially successful.

'Forty six per cent is a significant decrease rarely seen in popular tourist destinations. For example, following the military coup in Thailand in May 2014, hotel searches decreased by just 26 per cent.

'Although the British tourist in question has now been released, it will be interesting to see if tourists continue to avoid the destination. 

'Morocco is a year-round popular choice among UK holidaymakers, while Agadir is a popular winter sun destination. 

'Morocco's tourism economy would no doubt suffer from a sharp decline in British tourists.'

 

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