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Egypt specialists say bookings unaffected by terrorist incidents

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Operators to Egypt reported bookings had not been affected by terrorist attacks in neighbouring Libya.

David Wiles, managing director of Discover Egypt, which operates to historic areas including Luxor, said a lack of airlift to the city had had more of an impact on visitor numbers than safety concerns.

“I don’t think the incidents will necessarily have an impact as people who think that way wouldn’t have visited before anyway, and those who understand the situation will continue to travel there,” he said.

“It’s the way of the world. People will stop travelling to Paris and Denmark, for example, if they think that way.”

He pointed out that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against all but essential travel to the region to the north of Sharm 
El Sheikh, but people continue to travel to the resort.

“There is no advice against travelling to Luxor or Cairo, which haven’t been affected, and we explain that to anyone who contacts us with concerns,” he said.

Wiles said bookings are “nowhere near where they were five years ago” but are up year on year for January.

“We’ve had a lot of enquiries and people are surprised to hear that flights are fully booked to Luxor because of a lack of capacity.”

He said tourists can still access sights such as the Valley of the Kings and Luxor Temple via Cairo.

Pru Goudie, general manager of On The Go Tours, said that recent security issues only impacted travel to the Mediterranean coast, a “considerable distance” from the main sights of Cairo and Luxor.

John Boulding, managing director of Insight Vacations, said the operator was “obviously following the advice of the FCO”, adding: “Our bookings are growing once again, albeit from a small base, and we are very pleased with the overall situation.”

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