Cancellations Are On The Rise Despite Egypt's Peak Year In Tourism

However, if the violence in the area is resolved or restrained, American tourism to Egypt may bounce back sooner than projected.

Many Americans are deciding not to visit Egypt because of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

More than half of the American tourists who had planned to visit Egypt in November and December have cancelled their visits, according to Great Wonders of Egypt, a destination management organization located in Cairo that focuses on heritage and adventure travel.

According to Intrepid Travel, which caters to a sizeable number of American visitors, several requests to cancel excursions in Egypt in 2023 have been registered with the company.

When asked about the holiday season, Kelly Torrens, Kensington Tours' v.p. of product, stated that the company believes "the season's really going to be lost for most operators" that serve the U.S. market during Christmas season.

Travel to Egypt Down as War Hysteria Grows

According to Basem Salah, co-founder and head of operations for Great Wonders of Egypt, American cancellation requests arrived for the two weeks immediately after the commencement of the Israel-Hamas conflict on October 7. However, no cancellation requests were received for the months of November and December. At the same time, when the conflict continued to worsen, more and more future months were cancelled.

Investors were recently informed by Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean that reservations for the Middle East market have slowed and cancellations have increased. Both organizations have stopped planning trips that include Israel. Although the war has not yet reached Egypt, it may have an impact on the country's tourist industry, because people in the area simply feel unsafe.

Egypt May Expect Travel Improvement in 2024

Ten million visitors visited Egypt in the first eight months of this year, setting a new record for the country, as the season has been fantastic. Travel industry professionals are optimistic about 2024, with good reason.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, travel businesses in the region saw a significant increase in booking cancellations from April through May. Bookings picked up in the summer as the crisis dragged on and people stopped worrying about it expanding. Egypt is vulnerable to a situation quite like this one.

However, low advance reservations for springtime visits to Egypt provide cause for scepticism.

New reservations are still coming in at a slow pace compared to historical norms, but Torrens is optimistic that the coming winter and spring will be successful. On the other hand, many tourists might prefer postpone their Egypt trip until 2025.

At the beginning of this month, the credit rating that was assigned to Egypt was lowered by Fitch. There are "severe negative risks to tourism" because of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the agency reported.

In return, the Egyptian authorities declared the worries to be unwarranted.

In 2024, several cruise companies expect Egypt to improve. Norwegian Cruise Line CEO Harry Sommer stated in a third-quarter results conference that the company is more positive about the opportunity to soon return to locations like Egypt and other parts of the Middle East.

 

Source: skift.com