PHOTO: Egyptians greet tourists in Cairo during Abercrombie & Kent's President's Tour last March. (photo by David Cogswell)
With the elections in Egypt successfully and peacefully completed, tour operators are testing the waters in consideration of whether to return to the country. Some are cautiously watching as things develop. Some never stopped operating to Egypt.
The Travel Corporation announced this week that its tour operators now had an open door to return to Egypt. Contiki, the youth tour operator, and Busabout will return in September. Trafalgar and Insight Vacations will resume operations in January 2015. Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection will return in September 2015. And African Travel and Lion World Travel are also preparing to resume offering trips to Egypt.
Last March Abercrombie & Kent took four coaches of 18 people, a total of 72, to Egypt on a President's Tour led by A&K's president Phil Otterson. It was a statement by the company of its support for Egypt's beleaguered tourism industry and the large part of the Egyptian population that is dependent on it.
A&K's President's Tour of Egypt was considered an unqualified success so another was set for October, in preparation for a full return to operation in Egypt in 2015.
Group IST is also marketing Egypt again.
Calming Period Releasing Pent Up Demand
Meanwhile, Egypt had its elections, has a new elected president to go with its new constitution, rewritten after what were widely seen in Egypt as abuses of the old constitution by the country's first elected president, Mohamed Morsi.
With the political furor died down and the country hopefully on a new, calmer track, the aspirations of people around the world to travel to Egypt, a pent-up demand that built up for more than three years of practically no tourism in Egypt, can be let loose.
Tour operators will be happy to be part of that, both for the income it generates, and for their personal involvements with Egypt.
Some never pulled the plug on their programs to Egypt. Elie Sidawi, chairman of Sunny Land Tours, told Travel Pulse, "Sunny Land Tours has been operating weekly trips to Egypt without interruption for 50 years, including the period since the deposition of President Hosni Mubarak and later President Mohamed Morsi, and with all upheavals. While tourism to Egypt dropped drastically from the U.S. during the last two years, Sunny Land Tours is reporting a remarkable resurgence of inquiries and bookings to Egypt."
Those few travelers who took the trip to Egypt during the low period experienced the monuments without crowds, with easy access and a huge wave of gratitude from a population hungry for a return of its most important industry.
Big Five Tours was another company that continued to operate to Egypt during the low period.
"We didn't discount so our volume followed the market patterns," said Ashish Sanghrajka, president of Big Five. "Now our bookings are increasing to Egypt -- up 20 percent for 2014 -- and our yield has not suffered because we held our pricing line. We have been putting Egypt back in our front rotation even before the elections and will continue to do so, including more aggressive marketing while avoiding discounting."
Ya'lla Tours resumed its departures to Egypt last year.
"Our Egypt programs have been running since late 2013," said Ronen Paldi, Ya'lla's president, "and since they are all private and not a group departure, 'the situation' had hardly any affect on us. We are seeing an increase in the demand and interest and we are keeping our programs as they are and are still evaluating the pricing for 2015 since our rates have been frozen since 2010."
Watching and Waiting
Others are still testing the waters. Steve Born, vice president of marketing for the Globus family of brands, told Travel Pulse, "We do not have plans to reintroduce Egypt in 2015. Our previous decision to cancel itineraries was based on facts available at the time - namely information we were receiving about political instability and protests. Our overriding concern was for the safety of our passengers. We hope the presidential election brings stability - and tourists - to Egypt. It would be great to see Egypt return to its previous popularity among travelers. And, while we prepare our 2016 plans for the Globus family of brands, we will be closely monitoring developments."
For Globus, returning to Egypt is a matter of timing, when not if.
"Long-term, Egypt is an important destination for us," said Borne, "and when conditions are right, we're eager to resume full operation for Globus, Cosmos and Avalon Waterways."
Lindblad Expeditions' product guru, Ralph Hammelbacher, reports that it has made no immediate plans to resume its Egypt programs, but "is keeping a close eye on things," and plans to resume operating its Nile cruises as soon as it is practical.
Tauck reports that it is "taking a wait-and-see approach at the moment," according to Tom Armstrong, its corporate communications manager. "We're monitoring the situation in Egypt carefully. We've included info on our 13-day Egypt and Jordan itinerary in our new 2015 Exotics brochure, and we currently have info on our website, but we haven't announced a date when we'll resume departures."
Meanwhile, the Sphinx waits patiently.
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