Travel Update: Egypt and Ukraine
by Harvey Chipkin /While experts maintain that global travel is safer than ever before, political turmoil continues to affect both traditional and emerging destinations around the world.
Travel Market Report spoke with several experts for an update on travel to some of these destinations including Egypt and Ukraine.
The bottom line: travel to Egypt is on the rebound, while Ukraine and Russia remain problematic.
Most suppliers have shifted their itineraries in order to avoid trouble spots, while still offering consumers an authentic vacation experience. Travel agents, however, are seeing a return in demand to some troubled countries.
Egypt: increased demand
Suppliers are seeing a resurgence in demand for Egyptian travel, despite the country’s still-fraught political system.
Paul Wiseman, president of Trafalgar, said the best advice for agents is to be familiar with the company whose product they are selling. Trafalgar is back to selling Egypt vacations after leaving the country in 2011.
“When you’re dealing with a dynamic destination like Egypt, clients want reassurance,” Wiseman explained. “If you sell our product you can tell them that someone will be with them all the time and that person is Egyptian.”
Danger on the ground
Having employees on the ground at all times helps tour operators assess any danger that may befall vacationers.
“When the uprising in Egypt happened, we had a lot of travelers there or ready to go there,” said Wiseman. “Because of our resources and presence in so many places we were able to offer them alternatives and many took us up on them.”
Cox & Kings called Egypt one of the comeback stories in its 2015 trends report. Travel to that country was suspended for a short time, according to Scott Wiseman, president of the Americas for Cox & Kings.
“We feel confident in the destination and its ability to deliver a great experience,” he said.
Alexander+Roberts sees a similar growth in demand.
“Until this year it was a very thin stream, but now we are seeing more demand,” said Robert Drumm, president of Alexander+Roberts. “I was there in March and was amazed to see the number of European and Chinese tourists.
“We have very small groups and I think people feel they will be taken care of.”
Get a guide
Agents should advise their clients on the importance of undertaking guided travel in potential trouble spots around the globe, according to tour operators.
“It’s important to show guests the benefits of guided travel for destinations such as Egypt where language barriers, currency, and diverse cuisines often seem challenging,” said Courtney Iannuccilli, director of strategic marketing at Collette.
“The numbers for 2015 are looking very positive with triple digit increases over last year,” said Abercrombie & Kent spokeswoman Jean Fawcett. “Many spring departures sold out and fall dates are nearly filled up as well.
“We are also seeing an increase in privately guided travel to Egypt drawn by the exceptional value, stunning hotels and extraordinary level of service.”
The situation in Ukraine
Ukraine has seen recent violence in Crimea, the eastern part of the country that was annexed by the Russian Federation.
But according to Annie Lucas, vice president of tour operator MIR Corporation, the rest of Ukraine is still safe for travelers.
“Our best advice to agents is to of course stay abreast of destination information available through the U.S. State Department and other countries’ foreign offices,” said Lucas.
“Also, work with someone who is handling ongoing, consistent travel to the destination, has great familiarity with it and can therefore provide insight that is based not just on today’s events, but on how the destination has changed over time.”
Crimea river
Last spring, MIR removed Crimea from its itineraries, but that’s the only change it has made.
“We have generally offered trips to Western Ukraine, Kiev and Odessa,” said Lucas. “Eastern Ukraine has never had much appeal for travelers because it is more industrial . . . so we were not operating there.”
The company continues to monitor events in Ukraine. For now, it’s trips for 2015 are proceeding as scheduled without any problems, she added.
Other operators have totally pulled out of Ukraine in response to the violence.
“We continue to monitor the situation through our on-the-ground partners as well as State Department updates,” said Cox+Kings’ Wiseman. “When we feel confident of the ability of the local destination to provide the experience we expect, we will consider returning.”
Another consequence of the situation in Ukraine is a lack of demand for travel to Russia overall, following Russian president Vladimir Putin’s belligerent comments.
“Russia has been very hard hit this year with a lot of cancellations and river cruises are really constrained,” said Drumm. Alexander + Roberts did, however, accommodate one customer who requested a Ukraine tour.