25% of Tourist Reservations in Egypt Cancelled Due to Gaza Crisis: Official

Egypt is currently grappling with a decrease in tourism owing to the ongoing Gaza crisis as per the report by Noura Ali, the Chairperson of the Tourism Committee at the House of Representatives. According to her announcement on a tv show called “Last Word” (Kalema Akhera), the negative impact caused by the Gaza crisis led to a loss of nearly a quarter of the tourist reservations. Noura Ali explained that occurrences like these typically have an unfavorable impact on the Egyptian tourism sector. As such, any conversation suggesting otherwise would be unrealistic. However, she added that not all Egyptian tourist destinations were adversely affected by the events in Gaza. Only Taba, Sharm el-Sheikh, Nuweiba, and Dahab were impacted while cultural tourism persists to receive regular bookings in cities like Hurghada, Marsa Matrouh, Marsa Alam, and Cairo. Ali further clarified that any negative incident might possibly hamper a tourist’s decision promptly. For instance, tourists could prioritize their safety and choose to spend their vacation time in less turbulent areas. One significant group that influenced the percentage of cancellations were American tourists who formed a substantial part of the 25 percent of cancelled reservations. Mostly, a standard itinerary of an American tourist involved a trip comprising Egypt, Israel, and Jordan but due to the current crisis, they have reportedly been cancelling their reservations. These cancellations become a cause of worry as American tourists tend to belong to the set of high-spending tourists.