Tour operators interviewed by RATA-news gave
their comments on intensification of the situation in Cairo, where more than 30 people have been
killed in the past 4 days. Tahrir
Square is the center of conflict again. Clashes
also took place in other Egyptian cities, including Alexandria
and Suez. Thousands
of protestants demand Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and the Cabinet
of Ministers, ruling the country since ex-president Hosni Mubarak had been
toppled on February, 11, to step down. Rostourism advices Russian tourists against
visiting Cairo
or leaving the resort area. Russian Foreign Ministry have released a similar
recommendation on Monday.
“Tourists should be cautious, avoid trips to
Cairo, Alexandria and other cities where mass meetings or protests may be held,
avoid crowded places, always have their ID and Russian Embassy telephone
numbers on hand”, - says Rostourism in its announcement. The Agency also
reminds to tour operators and travel agents that they should inform tourists
“of dangers they can face while travelling to Egypt,
of situation in Cairo,
other cities and resort areas”. Sports and Tourism Ministry applied to Russian
Union of Travel Industry with the same recommendations the day before.
Meanwhile, tour operators say that Egypt riots did
not affect tourists yet. According to them, there have been no trip
cancellations so far, although the amount of reservations has decreased. “There
were no cancellations yet, but I leave the possibility that they may appear within
the nearest hours”, - said Anna Podgornaya - general manager of Pegas Touristik.
According to her, the disorders didn't touch the resort areas, so there is no
threat for tourists in Hurghada and Sharm-El-Sheikh. “We place the official
information from Foreign Ministry of Russia on our website, so tourists can get
acquainted with it. As for trips to Cairo,
we quitted them long ago. All of the sightseeing itineraries are inside the
resort areas”, - pointed out Ms. Podgornaya.
TEZ Tour's PR-director Marina Makarkova says
that the most common question to a tour operator today is about the situation
on the resorts. “We tell them it`s calm in Hurghada and Sharm-El-Sheikh. How`s
the situation going on in Cairo we, as well as them, get known from media”, -
mentioned Ms. Makarkova.
The representative of Vand International Tatyana
Markova also told us that tourists are questioning about the situation at the
resorts. She says that they were some calls from worried clients, who were
having their trips on some of these days. But later they decided not to cancel
their tours.
Experts say it was quite predictable that there
will be mass protests before the elections. Tour operators managed to adjust
their season`s plans. None of them is going to decrease the number of flights
or give discounts in order to attract tourists. “New Year tours to Egypt are in
stable demand. There was a sales lift on the destination a week ago, but the
dynamics was not that good earlier. Again, sales have slowed down a bit for
now. We expect the demand for the New Year and winter vacations to be 25-30%
lower than the previous year`s”, - stated Ms. Podgornaya.
According to the words of Marina Makarkova, when
compared to the previous year, the downturn of the Egyptian destination is
about 40% now. The same applies to the New Year. “There is a demand, sales go
pretty much as we expected”, - said TEZ Tour representative.
Anex Tour's PR-manager Evgeniya Fedorova
reported that Egypt sales
depth reaches one week in Moscow
and more than two weeks in the rest of the country. New Year flights, declared
by the tour operator, are 65-70% full right now. “Hotel prices have
insignificantly changed compared to last year. Average price of a week package
for two in a 4-star hotel is about 40 thousand roubles. The New Year by the
pyramids will cost from 74,000 roubles ($2500) for two”, - said Evgeniya. However,
tour operators think this “low-profile” price-policy of Egyptian hoteliers is
fully justified. Otherwise it will be difficult for them to hold their tour
product afloat.
