LUXURY tour operator Insight Vacations has cancelled all tours to Egypt in the wake of a resurgence of violence and political instability in the country.
Said Sheryl Lim, regional director, Asia, Insight Vacations: “Insight Vacations’ tours to Egypt from now until September 15, 2013 will be cancelled. As it is the off-season at present however, there are very few bookings out of Asia, so there is very little effect on our sales.”
She said that the peak travel period for Egypt was the five-week stretch from end-November to end-December.
“Before the political upheaval two years ago, we sent 200 to 300 travellers a year from South-east Asia to Egypt during this period. After the outbreaks of violence however, demand has held steady at fewer than 50 travellers a year during this peak period,” Lim observed.
Just a month ago, Malaysian outbound travel consultants had also reported a plunge in demand for tours to Egypt due to a fresh outbreak of riots (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 1, 2013).
On Insight’s response to situations where tours had to be cancelled, Lim explained: “Should there be a cancellation before the tour group departs, we will inform all our partner travel consultants, who will proceed to liaise with the travellers.
“If there is an outbreak (of violence) in the middle of the itinerary, the top priority is the safety of our guests. Our standard operating procedure is to escort the group back to their hotel immediately, after which we will make the necessary arrangements to have our travellers flown back home on the earliest flight out.”
