With three runways at Beiruts
international airport bombed out Wednesday by Israeli air strikes
and a sea blockade in place on Lebanon, operators who send clients
to the country had their hands full -- and did plenty of
hand-wringing.
Rita Zawaideh,
president of Caravan-Serai in Seattle, started contacting the
airlines immediately to find out what their policies were as soon
as she heard of the attacks on Lebanon but soon found out that the
U.S. reservations departments were unfamiliar with what to do in a
case such as this.
I got hold of
every airline, Zawaideh said. The reservations people didnt know
[how to handle the bombings]. I said, We need a policy now. Its
happened. Your offices overseas have to know.
By Thursday
morning, the operator had policies to e-mail its clients on the
ground in Lebanon. 
Unfortunately,
Zawaideh continued, We havent been able to reach any of our clients
at all. Were trying to get to them through other people to find out
if they want to get out, and to figure out how. Were trying to get
buses and cars to get them into Syria; then we can fly them out of
Syria. But first we have to find out what they want to
do.
Weve been in
touch with our operator in Lebanon, said Zawaideh. He said they are
just barely hanging on. The city is closed, nothing is happening.
No one can get through. Its just total depression all around. The
new airport that was just built is now destroyed. No one knows what
is happening and theres no word from the international community
about this attack.
According to
Zawaideh, the major airlines to the region are providing refunds
for flights booked to Lebanon, Zawaideh said.
Klaus Billep,
president of Santa Monica, Calif.-based Universal Travel System was
more fortunate. We dont have anyone there right now, he said. The
last trip we did was in March and April. We flew into Beirut, then
into Jordan, Amman, and down to Petra. [The region] was okay then.
Now this thing is escalating, getting out of hand.
The companys next
trip to Lebanon is scheduled for November. Were going to wait a
while and let it settle. Its going to take a while.
Meanwhile,
Silversea Cruises spokesman Brad Ball said that the Silver Wind is
scheduled to call in Beirut on July 17 and that its vessel
operations crew is reviewing alternative options, but that no
decision has been made on a new itinerary.
Elsewhere in the
region, Travcoa has canceled its next tour to Israel, scheduled to
leave in the fall. Im nervous about everything in the Middle East
now, said Jerre Fuqua, Travcoas president.
General Tours
President Bob Drumm said he was concerned for eight clients who
were staying at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. Theyre not
coming home, he said. We offered that to them. I dont think they
are in harms way, but its a challenging time to be in
Israel.
To contact reporter David Cogswell, send e-mail to [email protected].
Johanna Jainchill contributed to this
story.