Hotels and resorts in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh have seen sharp falls in tourist numbers following the alleged bomb attack on a Russian passenger plane just minutes after it departed Sharm El-Sheikh worldwide Airport last Friday.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended all commercial flights between Russia and Egypt and began evacuating tourists from the Middle East country after speculation arose that a bomb caused a Russian plane crash on October 31.
British officials regularly visit Sharm el-Sheih’s airpot to check its security procedures.
The most significant losses for tourism operators have come from their need to fly empty planes to Egypt to evacuate Russian tourists, according to Russian Tourism Industry Union spokeswoman Irina Tyurina.
United States of America air carriers for years have avoided flying into or out of Sharm al-Sheikh airport because of longstanding worries about security at the facility, U.S. officials said.
Representatives for the FBI said that the bureau had offered both Egyptian and Russian crash investigators forensic assistance and other investigative help, but as of Thursday its offers had not been accepted.
He said he planned a public relations campaign to promote Egypt in Britain and Russian Federation and win back tourism from those countries, which account for two thirds of foreign visitors to the beach and diving holiday destination.
But Egypt looks as unstable as ever….
The remaining Russian holidaymakers are leaving the Sharm el-Sheikh resort with only hand luggage aboard special flights, with their suitcases sent on separate planes. Sharm el-Sheikh had been an exception, attracting millions of tourists from Russian Federation and Europe lured by the beaches, cheap holiday packages and direct charter flights.
How much worse can things get in Egypt?
A HARWICH family were delayed for a day in the tourist resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.
Mr Hammond said they are happy with how the process is going.
“There’s a cultural problem here, and I’m not pointing the finger at the Egyptians – this is the case in a large part of the world”, he said.
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The decision by Corendon Dutch Airlines to halt flights appears to refer to updated travel advice issued by the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs in February 2014, which said all travel to the Sinai was “inadvisable” and advised Dutch citizens to leave.
