DEMAND for Egypt is slowly returning in Malaysia after it flatlined due to the issuance of travel advisories early last year urging Malaysians to reschedule non-essential travel to the destination given the prevailing security situation and political uncertainties there.
Poto Travel & Tours group CEO, Abdul Rahman Mohd Ali, said he had three scheduled departures last November and December, which coincided with the Malaysian school holidays, and about 100 bookings for its 10D9N packages covering Cairo, Luxor, Aswan and Alexandria.
Similarly, Cooper Huang, CEO of Malaysian Harmony Tours & Travel, believes demand for Egypt as a holiday destination is returning, based on enquiries received in November and December 2014.
The company plans to start selling Egypt this March with four departures.
Insight Vacations too has relaunched its Egyptian itineraries, with the first of four having departed yesterday with Insight’s global CEO, John Boulding.
Its regional director (Asia) Sheryl Lim said in a press statement the company has been keeping a close eye on the political and social situation in Egypt.
Lim is confident guests will “enjoy the very best of this unique destination with the added safety and security of travelling with a group and a highly experienced local tour director”.
Rahman partly attributed the slow demand to the depreciation of the Malaysian ringgit against the US dollar. He said: “We have planned another two departures in March, but demand is slow and if we do not get at least 20 pax for each scheduled departure, we will cancel it.
“Egypt Tourism should do more marketing and promotions here. Its presence at previous MATTA fairs are small. There should be more exposure of the destination.”
However, Apple Vacations & Conventions, which had also stopped selling tours to Egypt last year, would wait until it is confident the country is safe for Malaysians to visit, according to group managing director Desmond Lee.
