The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has lifted its advice against travel to Cairo and other countries have also lifted travel bans and warnings. Russia, Italy, Belgium and Cyprus have declared it safe to travel to the region again.
A statement on the FCO website says it no longer advises against all but essential travel to Cairo Governate (made up of the Giza Pyramids) and Greater Cairo.
A nationwide state of emergency was declared in the country in August, along with curfews, following violent clashes.
Johanna D’Haese, owner of Azure Travel, says the lifting of the travel ban has not made any difference to its bookings. “As recently as last week, clients turned away from travelling to Egypt as they feel it is still unstable.” However she adds: “We had a few clients who travelled in October and November and they raved about the country, the services and the Nile cruise.” Johanna says more needs to be done to get travellers to return to the country.
The Travel Corporation announced in August that it would stop all tours and cruises in Egypt for any of the brands represented by the company, following the state of emergency issued by the Egyptian government. It has made no announcement about plans to resume operations in the country.
MD of Sphinx Travel, Mohamed Nagdy, says they are very confident that the tourism sector to Egypt will see an increase after the lifting as well as more tour operators marketing and promoting the destination again.
