CD Traveller » Egypt

Getting Away for Easter

Editor — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 06:30:03 +0000

According to ABTA, about 2 million of us will leave the country to enjoy Easter abroad. And maybe some decent weather after the returning wintry conditions of this week.
It won’t come as a great surprise to many of you that Spanish resorts are doing well with Tenerife and the Canaries leading the way. You could also guess that Egypt and Turkey are doing well and so they are but Tunisia has also picked up a lot of bookings. Going slightly further afield, Florida is attracting the usual school age groups and booking seem to be up despite the fact that the biggest new attraction, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, doesn’t open until June 18th.
The usual places seem to fill the top spots each year for overseas citybreak destinations. Paris, Amsterdam and Dublin lead the pack with Milan and New York not far behind and this is despite the weakness of the pound against the euro and the dollar.
So who is going away?
Just short of a million people are due to fly out from the four airports around London with 155,000 from the main Scottish ones. 140,000 will leave from Manchester and about 60,000 from Birmingham.
Domestic holidays are also attracting large numbers of people and citybreaks in London, Edinburgh and Manchester are popular. The Channel Isles, Cornwall, East Anglia and Northern England are also popular with holidaymakers. That fits in with the news coming from the domestic tour operators that staycations are heading for another good year.
Easyjet has also announced that it will carry over a million passengers over Easter with Geneva being its top destination. Then come the warmer spots of Malaga, Faro, Palma and Marrakech. So far Ryanair hasn’t announced how its Easter traffic just a sale, yes another one. (Getting to be as often as the bed and furniture sales you see on TV!) It would be odd though if they weren’t flying at least a million people as well.
So it looks as though this might be a bumper period. With good snow to attract the snow sport enthusiasts and warmth to attract the rest of us who are a little tired of the wintry conditions, it could get very, very busy at airports and ports not mention the roads.

APD and the Caribbean

adrian — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:24:15 +0000

Last November there was a further increase in the Air Passenger Duty (APD) we UK based flyers pay. Next November it will go up yet again. In Ireland a similar tax is blamed by Ryanair for a substantial fall in the number of people visiting there and its decision to maintain quite so many planes at Dublin. It has concerned some countries that their tourism is being affected so the Netherlands has abolished the tax.

The UK is one of the most heavily taxed, if not the most heavily one for airline flights. But it doesn’t only hit people in the UK. Because of the high cost, overseas countries that rely on tourism for substantial national income are worried we won’t travel there.

Take the Caribbean.

Because of a badly thought out system of taxation, travellers to the Caribbean pay more APD than if you were to fly to the west coast of the USA despite the fact that the distance is less. So last week, this incongruity was raised in parliament by Roger Godsiff, an MP who has a high number of constituents with links to the Caribbean. Was the government sympathetic? No the answer that Sarah McCarthy Fry gave on their behalf was that it would be not be straightforward to reform the APD. Six months after consideration began, they still have not found a solution. Despite the fact that the issue has been raised face-to-face by Caribbean politicians, nothing has happened.

Why not?

For a start, if you had to have this tax at such an oppressive rate, you could tax it on the number of miles flown after you leave a UK airport. (that way you wouldn’t penalise domestic tourism) instead of the four bands we currently have. It is not only the Caribbean that is affected. People flying to Egypt pay at the same level. The Dutch dropped the tax. They worked out that it caused a net loss of €900 million per year because of not having the tourists. Polls show people think it is unfair but you can understand why the government is reluctant to drop a cash cow that gives them billions per year. But they can’t see how much is being lost to the UK by the loss of visitors. Sooner or later as we compete for the tourism spend we will lose to to those that charge less. Will their eyes ever open?

Alexandria: Capital of Arab Tourism

adrian — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 06:14:23 +0000

Just as Europe has capitals of culture; this year, Istanbul, Essen and Pecs so the Arab world highlights a city each year. This year it is Alexandria in Egypt, a city which is more well known than visited by British and Irish tourists. It is known as where Cleopatra had her palace, where the great lighthouse was one of the wonders of the world and home of the ancient world’s largest library. Founded and named after Alexander the Great, its glory days ended centuries ago as Cairo gradually became the capital.

Today it is where Egyptian city people go for the holiday. The days when the British and Europeans seem to take over the city have gone. Today Europeans visit Cairo and Luxor or go to the Red Sea resorts.

But they miss so much. Alexandria is not really like other parts of Egypt. It is more cosmopolitan and looks more to the Mediterranean world than the rest of Egypt does.

It is being transformed by the discoveries that the French and Egyptians are finding in the harbour. Just before Christmas a 9 tone stone said to be from a complex around Cleopatra’s palace was found. Thousands of items have been found in the harbour since this joint effort began about twenty years ago and many will find their way into the new museum of the sunken city which will open in a couple of years. They have found the remains of the Alexandria lighthouse and some of the 2000 identified blocks that made up this marvel have already been lifted from the silty harbour.

But Alexandria isn’t only about history. The 8 year old Alexandria library is an architectural landmark with its glass roof and its 100 papyrus shaped columns. The sandy beaches stretch for over 140 kilometres and the cafes still retain some of their European heritage. All of which shows Alexandria as a familiar Egypt in one sense but so different in another.

The Christmas Getaway Begins

Editor — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:40:16 +0000

Around here the schools have just broken up and kids are everywhere. But so are cars heavily laden with luggage so it is obvious that some people are leaving tonight for the Christmas break. Maybe they are all trying to travel before even more snow comes over the weekend.

ABTA (Association of British Travel Agents) claims that today and next Wednesday will be two busiest days on the roads or at railway stations, airports and ferry terminals as people make the way off for the break. They estimate that 3 million us will be heading away of the Christmas period. This number is about the same as last year so our appetite for a break seems as strong as ever. Now that the British Airways strike has been put on hold for a while, the only unfortunate ones who may have their Christmas break upset will be those who booked on flyGlobespan.

By far and away, Heathrow is the place to avoid if you aren’t going away. It is estimated some 1.5 million people, half of all the number of travellers that there will be will be using this airport. Gatwick will see an extra 500,000 people, Stansted, 400,000 and Manchester, a quarter of a million. 150,000 are due to fly from Glasgow and just over 100,000 from Edinburgh. This may prove to be on the optimistic side given flyGlobespan. Then there are the 400,000 who will cross the channel by train, ferry or the tunnel.

And where are we off to? The warmth of Egypt, the Canaries and Turkey seems to be attracting us but with early good snow in France, Switzerland and the Alps, the number of last minute skiers seems to be up as well.

For the rest of us who are staying at home, looking outside my window, we might still have a white Christmas!

Egypt Has it All

Editor — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:16:11 +0000

Egypt has been one of the success stories of the last few years. Blessed with a fascinating culture, beaches on the Red Sea and a heritage that is second to none, Egypt could be seen as almost the perfect destination. Everything is there.

Now there will be more as they develop the “White Med” which is the coastline west of Alexandria and towards El Alamein and beyond. Here, carefully controlled development will deliver what the Egyptian Minister for Tourism says will be two key features of future tourism, how tourism affects the environment and service. It has already been decided to turn Sharm into a green initiative. The number of hotel rooms is limited there and it will be the same in the White Med. Holiday offers for Britains will be available from May 2010.

The appeal of Egypt is also due to pricing. Paying the equivalent of £40 a night for four star accommodation in Cairo or Luxor is still possible. And that was a continuing theme at World Travel Market. Value for money and having a currency outside the eurozone was proving to be popular in attracting British visitors.

Summer’s Gone, Winter Starts

Editor — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:43:11 +0000

In the travel industry there are only two seasons, summer and winter. Summer ends at the end of October. No figures have come out yet showing what we did this summer but there are some hints.

We didn’t go abroad as much as we did the year before. Maybe the numbers dropped by between 15 and 20%. Europe and North America would have been the worst hit since their currencies were strong and there was less discounting on hotel prices. Unlike Turkey where flexibility and keen pricing will have prompted many more of us to go there. Egypt has done well as the combination of sun and beach (Sharm and Hurghada for example) and culture (Luxor and Cairo) will have attracted two different types of people.

You might be surprised that far flung places have done well but airfares and holiday packages to places like Thailand were good value in comparison. And the Thai government helped their tourism industry enormously after the demonstrations earlier in the year. Malaysia and Vietnam attracted more of us than before as well.

But although other places took the headlines, Spain was still the most popular destination although the number of us visiting there will be down. And as everyone said, a lot of us holidayed at home. The word “staycation” entered our vocabulary and visits to local attractions jumped.

The trend seems to have continued into half term as well. And as for winter? Who knows. The one thing we travellers have taught the industry this year is that we will book later and we will keep our holidays even though we might have to cut back elsewhere. So they will promote to us for longer and bargains will continue for a bit longer yet.

Half Term Destinations

adrian — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:32:11 +0000

Seemingly around faster than ever, half term is upon us and it usually throws up some surprises as to what destinations we prefer to go to.
But no this year, the choice appears to be pretty similar to those summer places we chose. Last summer you might remember we shunned Spain and many other places in the eurozone and opted for Egypt and Turkey in much greater numbers. Still Spain was the top destination. This time we have done the same. A Spanish destination is top but there have been lots more people heading away to Sharm El Sheikh and Dalaman.
According to Co-op. Travel last year, Majorca was the top destination, this year it is Tenerife. But Tenerife is pricier for a family than Majorca so what this may show is that the price conscious end of the market is the one that has been hit and those whose incomes are more secure have opted for renowned sunny destinations where climate is virtually guaranteed. In Dalaman in Turkey, outside the eurozone, prices are at their most competitive for some time and they proved to be the second most favoured option just in front of Egypt’s Sharm.
According to the Co-op, the other thing that might have influenced people this year was the lack of last minute bargains. Those who might have gone at the last minute may have stayed at home.
Egypt and Turkey are having a bit of a boom. Is this a trend or just a blip due to the economic times? We might have a better idea when figures from Thomas Cook, Thomson and First Choice appear or will they show that the old favourites still have appeal?

So Where Are We Going This Summer?

adrian — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 06:57:00 +0000

All the schools have broken up now. My local rail carpark is only about half full and the 7.30am traffic jam no longer exists. That means that some of you have already started your holidays.
So are you holidaying in this country, having a staycation or are you going abroad after all? We are going to have to wait a little while to see where you have actually gone as opposed to where you said you would go.
But there is one guide to what is happening and that comes from the bureaux de change. Knowing which currency has been bought gives a pretty good indication of where you are going and the Post Office has come up with some information.
It looks as though more of you than we thought are going abroad after all. According to them, Kenya, Thailand, Egypt and Indonesia (well Bali really) are doing well in comparison to previous years and now that the pound is performing better against the euro, we are increasingly looking at the traditional places like Greece, Spain and Italy again. Turkey was always going to do well and so it has proved top be since £1 buys over 8% more than it did a year ago.
But Kenya is the big surprise. Currency sales have nearly trebled. After the disputed election and the problems there over a year ago, some people thought it might take a while for tourism to recover. It has bounced back faster than thought although Tanzania and Botswana are seeing increases as well.
Thailand also performed well but that might be a blip given the recent news about scamming at Bangkok Airport. (see our feature page)
More importantly the strength of sterling has come at the right time. It is up 15% since the lows of January. Just right for the holiday season.

Summer Holidays Rush Begins?

adrian — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 06:47:00 +0000

With travel agencies opening for the first day after Christmas traditionally, today, begins the big booking period for summer holidays. Its cold across most of the country but dry on the whole and it will be bright.
Why the weather forecast?
Generally if it is raining, snowing or the weather is miserable then summer holiday bookings increase. The milder and nicer the weather, the sages tell us, the lower the bookings.
Just before Christmas, ABTA and the Foreign Office released the results of a survey of 2,018 adults which said the top destinations that people were looking at were in Turkey and Egypt. The UK doesn’t seem to be at the top of their list but I would have thought that the economic downturn and the weakness of the pound would make the UK attractive this year. At least you know how much your money will buy come the holiday.
And overseas?
Well both Turkey and Egypt are outside the eurozone so the pound hasn’t slid so far against their currencies. Others suggested by the survey include Cuba, Croatia, Mexico and the Caribbean. I would have thought you could also add destinations that offer all-inclusive holidays wherever they might be. People will want to know that they have budgetted for virtually all their holiday spend. Already in November (for which the latest figures are available) Spain has had quite a downturn in tourist numbers and it could be that in order to try and attract more tourists there may be Spanish bargains. Remember though that with the demise of so many tour operators and ther mergers of First Choice with Thomsons and MyTravel with Thomas Cook that there will be fewer holidays around this summer.
Today and tomorrow the newspapers will be filled with holiday adverts to lure you to their destinations and into travel agancies. We will keep an eye on them and let you know early next week what we find.

Zahi Hawass Gets World Tourism Award

adrian — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 10:46:00 +0000

Who he you may well ask.
Dr Zahi Hawass has headed up the Supreme Council Of Antiquities in Egypt for the last six years. As such he is responsible for the archaeological excavations throughout the country, it’s musuems and those travelling exhibitions that go around the world.
With his trademark cowboy hat he has become quite a television personality who has raised the profile of Egyptian antiquities ( if they weren’t high enough already) so that he is quite a recognisable figure.
His wikipedia biography points out that he some critics. It would be hard for him not to have some since has greatly improved the way some sites are looked after. You can’t walk around and remove things as souvenirs from spoil heaps as easily as you once could.
So here is an award that is justified. His efforts have greatly aided Egyptian tourism and if they aren’t all of his own making, so be it. What matters is that what Egypt offers the tourist is worth seeing and it is protected for future generations to see.