Seemingly inconsistent guidance from the State Department over Egypt travel and operator cancellations following the outbreak of war with Iran will result in a hit to Egypt's country's tourism industry, specialists said.
Egypt was among the countries that the State Department said Americans should leave, according to a March 2 post on X by the department's assistant secretary for consular affairs. But the department did not follow up with additional warnings or guidance about travel to or from Egypt, and as of Friday morning it had not downgraded Egypt's travel advisory past Level 2, which encourages Americans there to exercise increased caution.
For comparison of other countries' travel advisories, many countries in Western Europe, including the U.K., France, Italy and Spain, are listed at Level 2, and Brazil and India are at "Level 2: Contains areas with higher security risk," which is the same travel advisory level as Egypt.
Parts of Egypt are under "do not travel" Level 4 guidance -- Northern and Middle Sinai as well as parts of the Western Desert -- but that warning has been in place for several years.
A post from the U.S. embassy in Cairo March 4 said that the embassy was open and "operating normally" and that Egyptian airspace remains open and commercial airports were operational.
What travel advisors are saying
"The confusion created is really a tragedy because it does shake traveler confidence," said Amira Bixby of The Opulent Explorer in Chatham, N.J. Egypt is one of the destinations Bixby specializes in.
The disruption comes soon after the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, a $1 billion project that took 20 years to complete.
"They have been waiting so long for the GEM to open," she said. "It finally opens. They finally have everything they've wanted in place."
Malaka Hilton, the CEO of Admiral Travel International and an Egyptian specialist, said this isn't the first time Egypt's tourism has taken a hit due to conflict in the region. But even though Egypt is more than 1,000 miles away from Iran, travelers are questioning their safety, she said.
"We've got to be able to separate the headlines -- there's this fear effect when people view the Middle East all as one place," she said. "Egypt is open, and it is operating as normal."
But despite no conflict taking place in Egypt, the country's tourism is likely to suffer and face another setback in recovery, she said, adding that it was disappointing to see operators canceling tours there.
Both advisors said that the Egyptian people, many of whom rely on the tourism industry for their economy, will be the ones to suffer from cancellations and fewer visitors.
Viking resumes cruises in Egypt earlier than planned
After saying earlier this week it was canceling Nile River cruises for the rest of March, Viking said Thursday that it would resume departures on March 12.
Viking said it reconsidered after monitoring the U.S.-Iran war and speaking with longtime ground operators in Egypt. Viking also said the current U.S. State Department travel advisory factored into its reversal.
"The official travel advisories have been clarified, and the current advisory for Egypt remains the same as it was prior to the start of the recent conflict," Viking said in a statement.
With eight ships in Egypt, Viking is the largest Western operator of Nile cruises.
Other operators have canceled some of their Nile departures: Tauck has canceled a few Egypt land-cruise tours -- its Egypt: Jewels of the Nile itinerary is slated to resume after March 15, and Jordan & Egypt: Petra to the Pyramids is paused for March. AmaWaterways said it has suspended its Jordan and Dubai extensions through March 31.