Though continuing violence, including the killing of 24 Coptic Christians by security forces earlier this month, has slowed recovery of Egypt’s tourism trade, bookings are gradually returning.
“We are optimistic, even with the violence we had last week,” said Mohamed Hegazy of the Egypt Tourist Authority. He also noted that the violence was “not targeting any tourists. It’s a political situation.”
Hegazy said Egypt welcomed 121,000 U.S. tourists from January to August, a 46% drop from the same period in 2010.
Tour operators, whose Egypt business was battered earlier this year, last week seemed determined to see the destination recover, despite the unnerving political uncertainty with parliamentary and presidential elections on the horizon.
“We remain bullish about the return to Egypt in the coming year, and the unfortunate incidents of the past weekend haven’t detracted from that,” said Steve Born, vice president of marketing for the Globus family of brands. “Our agents and their clients are knowledgeable about the fact that demonstrations have not been directed at foreigners.”
Globus is offering three Avalon Waterways Egypt itineraries in 2012, with a total of 129 departures, 26% more than this year.
“We are seeing booking activity [and] expecting that volume will continue to grow as the season goes on,” Born said.
Last week, Pamela Lassers, spokeswoman for Abercrombie & Kent USA, said that in the previous two weeks, A&K had received twice as many bookings for 2012 travel to Egypt as it had in the month after dates and prices for 2012 were released on Aug. 24.
“Interest in travel to Egypt rebounded in the fourth quarter, with clients who had postponed trips earlier in the year rebooking for travel October through December 2011,” Lassers wrote in an email.
On a conference call with the media at the end of September, Adventures by Disney executives said they planned to go ahead with their Egypt itineraries, but cruise lines have been less bullish heading into 2012.
Carnival Corp. altered nearly 300 itineraries this year as a result of political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, affecting 9.5% of the company’s itineraries.
CFO David Bernstein said during last month’s third-quarter earnings call that the company had reduced its 2012 exposure by 12%.
Celebrity Cruises last week canceled five 2012 Holy Land sailings on the Celebrity Silhouette that were to visit Israel and Egypt ports. Instead, it will operate 13-day Eastern Mediterranean and Adriatic cruises from Rome or from Rome to Venice.
Much of Egypt’s tourism recovery rests on upcoming parliamentary elections at the end of November and a presidential election sometime in the first half of 2012.
Ronen Paldi, president of Ya’lla Tours, said, “Those that are still in the early stages of planning for 2012 are waiting and will probably book after the elections.”
The U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Oct. 9 advised U.S. citizens “to avoid areas with heavy police presence or crowds assembling and to exercise caution if within the vicinity of any large public gathering.
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Calling all agents: If you sell Egypt, please email me at mbaran@travelweekly.com. I'd love to find out more about whether your clients are concerned about the current situation in Egypt.