Egypt

hieveryone

I've just got back from Sharm and security is present at lots of checkpoints.

When picking up people from another hotel for a diving excursion, a man checked the bottom of our bus with a mirror underneath

Our hotel was relatively quiet, mostly English and Russian.

Soho Square had plenty of people milling about, but not as busy as what I imagine it could get like.

mick_vandick

A report from the frontline.

Sharm el-Sheikh hotels empty as tourists fear violence

Red Sea resort losing its appeal as Egypt continues its brutal crackdown


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...-violence.html

Revenue is clearly going to drop when you consider the countries that stopped travel a few months back, hardly suprising news...

On a brighter point, many of those countries who stopped travel are restarting in the next few weeks so it will only get better.
I expected it to be quieter than it was when i was there. A lot of the hotels i visited reported decent occupancy levels to be fair. And in the Hurghada area occupancies were very high so people are still travelling to Egypt.

And lastly, i do wish journalists would get their facts right. The dinosaur themed amusment park (Hollywood) is not an amusment park and nor is it dinosaur themed. There are some dinosaurs outside and some inside but that is all and it's more of a shopping and entertainment centre, a little like Soho Square but odder. If you have been, you will know what i mean! And during the day it is going to be quiet and mostly closed. I went one evening and there were plenty of people around.

In fact, reading this article again, it just smacks of inaccuracies...

The sharp drop in visitor numbers is plainly apparent on the streets of Sharm, despite it being the only area in Egypt to which the Foreign Office still encourages visitors.

Thats incorrect also. There is a whole seperate Red Sea area on the mainland that has no restrictions on travel to and unless i am mistaken (which i am not) you are still okay in Luxor and Cairo and many other areas.

Kevnic

Just got back from a 10 day holiday in Sharm. No problems at all.:)

Chikita

We have just come back from 10 days in Sharm el Sheikh (stayed in Grand Plaza), and I am already looking for quotes to come back this summer! Excellent destination, no problems at all for family travellers like us, who spend 80% of time by the pool or in the sea anyway. The hotel was fairly busy, Soho Square and Naama Bay were buzzing with life. Our travel agent just advised us to give Cairo and Luxor a miss and not to go deep into desert.

mick_vandick

Paints a different story to what has been in the press! How you found it is how i found it too at the beginning of this month, plenty around in the evening.
Cairo and Luxor are fine as long as you fly

Mr_Wang

mick_vandick wrote: »

Paints a different story to what has been in the press! How you found it is how i found it too at the beginning of this month, plenty around in the evening.
Cairo and Luxor are fine as long as you fly

I was there during the riots in Cairo and we literally had to wipe CS gas from our eyes each morning. It was difficult getting out of the city as everyone there was looking to leave, so for a few days we were unable to leave. But not once was any kind of hatred pointed at us, and only once did we feel threatened (our tax got caught on the 6th October Bridge at night) and rioters were running down the bridge banging on the cars.

During the day we never got bothered and having been to Egypt several times it felt normal other than for the absence of tourists.
We left Cairo and headed to Aswan and Luxor and both were absolutely fine, not even a smidgen of trouble or animosity.

I returned to Luxor last summer for a few days and heard gun shots in the West Bank but it turns out it was a riot about fuel, the villagers had blocked the road and the police turned up.

Leaving Luxor I was bound for Doha, this is a photograph taken on the plane somewhere over Saudi Arabia - There were just 8 passengers on the flight.

[Deleted User]

There is a high threat from terrorism, according to the Foreign Office, which advises against all travel to north and south Sinai, with the exception of the airport and area within the Sharm el Sheikh perimeter barrier.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/africaandindianocean/egypt/10804433/Egypt-bomb-blasts-kill-three.html

mick_vandick

There is a high threat from terrorism, according to the Foreign Office, which advises against all travel to north and south Sinai, with the exception of the airport and area within the Sharm el Sheikh perimeter barrier.

Which is the same advice as it has been giving for the past month, maybe longer now....
No change, Sharm and all Red Sea resorts on the mainland still operating as normal.

mick_vandick

Just thought i'd share this report from someone who has actually been and found the Red Sea to be business as usual.

http://www.thestar.co.uk/features/travel-sharm-el-sheik-egypt-1-6596264

[Deleted User]

mick_vandick wrote: »

Just thought i'd share this report from someone who has actually been and found the Red Sea to be business as usual.

http://www.thestar.co.uk/features/travel-sharm-el-sheik-egypt-1-6596264

You'll notice the repeated mentions of Thomas Cook and their wonderful rep in this infomercial.
Who do you think gave the hack a free holiday ?
They're hardly likely to bite the hand that feeds them.;)