Travel Warning to Egypt

(Dive Travel Business News - January 30, 2011) - Today, the U.S. State Department recommends that U.S. citizens avoid travel to Egypt due to ongoing political and social unrest. Other countries have filed similar advisories. A government travel warning is a serious action that usually triggers cancelations by airlines and tour operators and also affects certain types of travel-insurance coverage.

Violent demonstrations have occurred in several areas of Cairo, Alexandria and other parts of the country, disrupting road travel between city centers and airports. U.S. citizens currently in Egypt should consider leaving as soon as they can safely do so.  Cairo airport is open and operating, but flights may be disrupted and transport to the airport may be disrupted due to the protests.  Travelers should remain in contact with their airlines or tour operators concerning flight schedules, and arrange to arrive at the airport well before government-imposed curfew hours (4pm - 8am). Tourists are experiencing disruptions in communications, including internet service. 

Until today, foreign governments have stopped short of issuing formal  travel warnings to Egypt.  Denmark, Sweden, Australia, the UK, Canada, the Netherlands and other countries issued issued a lower-level "travel alert" on Jan 28, urging travelers to exercise caution, stay away of Cairo, and for citizens to defer nonessential travel in the country, as police and protesters clashed in Cairo and across Egypt.   Tourists in Cairo were warned to stay inside their hotels and monitor the situation on the news and were warned specifically not to attend any political gatherings or demonstrations for fear of violence.

Tour operators are reporting the majority of tourists are located in popular resort areas such as Sharm el-Sheikh which is located over 200 miles from  to Cairo. A spokesman for Thomas Cook said that resorts away from the capital remained "fully operational". He said: "Our experienced teams on the ground assure us that no tourist areas at the Red Sea have been affected in any way by the recent demonstrations."

Egyptian tourism, a US$12 billion dollar industry employing over 3 million people in the sector,  is no stranger to upheaval.  Four shark attacks in the popular Sinai peninsula resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in a week at the end of 2010 that led to 65% of bookings in the town being canceled. The country has also suffered repeated terrorist incidents, which have regularly been aimed at tourists. In the last six years there have been bombings in Cairo, in Sharm el-Sheikh, at Ras al-Shitan on the Sinai peninsula and in Dahab, a resort popular for world-class windsurfing. In 1997, 58 tourists were among 62 people killed when terrorists with automatic rifles and machetes attacked visitors to the Temple of Hatshepsut near Luxor.

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