OUTBOUND travel consultants in Malaysia have seen demand for Egypt tumble in the face of political protests sweeping Cairo and other major cities including Faiyoum, Mansoura and Alexandria.
Insight Vacations’ sales manager-Malaysia, Mani Vannan, said: “There has been a big slowdown in demand as Malaysians are concerned over their safety while on holiday.
“However, it is too early to predict demand for the destination during the upcoming school holidays in August. It would largely depend on the situation in Egypt then.”
He added that Malaysians considered Egypt a “historical country and an exotic destination”.
Malaysian Harmony Tours & Travel CEO, Cooper Huang, said the company had stopped running tours to Egypt temporarily as there had been no enquiries.
“There is no point pushing this destination when there is no response. Once there is stability in the country, we will start promoting Egypt again,” he explained.
However, Sedunia Travel Services is still going ahead with a group tour to Egypt in the third week of August. Business development manager, Gary Oh, said: “It is still too early to predict whether there will be cancellations. Presently, there is a wait-and-see attitude.”
Malaysia’s government on Saturday issued an advisory against travel to Egypt, urging Malaysians to postpone and reschedule trips to the country as “uncertainty of the situation continues to increase”.
