War on Gaza has moderate impact on Egypt’s tourism: Experts

“The impact of the war is already felt in South Sinai, which accounts for 32 percent of Egypt’s total tourism bookings. Since the beginning of the conflict, more than half of trips to South Sinai have been cancelled,” Sameh Saad, vice president of Orient Hotels and Resorts, told Ahram Online.

“However, the impact of these cancellations has been mitigated by pre-war overbookings for the months of October and November,” he added.

The conflict in Palestine started on 7 October and has been escalating since then. Up until now, the war resulted in more than 7,300 killed and 19,000 injured among Palestinians, and 1,300 casualties and 3,300 injuries among the Israelis.

Egypt has been making immense diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation while avoiding any provocations to be a part of the struggle. 

“As long as Egypt is not involved in that conflict, the impact thereof on tourism will still be moderate and constitute only cancellations to some trips to Sinai,” Azza Abbas, head of the Egyptian Association for Tourism and Friendship among Nations, told Ahram Online.