How safe is a holiday to Egypt during the current violent protests and civil unrest?

IT’S been a week since President Mohammed Morsi was ousted In Egypt and today an arrest order has been issued for the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie

The violent protests, which saw more than 50 people killed on Monday, has led tour operators to cancel day trips to Cairo and Luxor for tourists currently on holiday in the country. A sensible decision, following Foreign Office advice, urging Britons against “non essential” travel to some areas of the country.

In line with this, Explore and Exodus, who both specialise in adventure travel involving visits to ancient pyramids and temples have temporarily suspended holidays to the region for the next three months. Both are currently contacting customers and offering alternative holidays.

So, where does that leave holiday-makers due to fly out this summer?

The good news for anyone heading to a Red Sea Resort destination is that this region appears to be unaffected.

The latest Foreign Office advice continues to be, “In view of the continued unrest and ongoing evolving political situation in Egypt, the FCO recommends against all but essential travel to Egypt except for resorts on the Red Sea in South Sinai and those resorts on the Egyptian mainland in Red Sea governorate.”
These exemptions include, “Red Sea resorts in the entire region of Sharm el Sheikh, Taba, Nuweiba and Dahab”. – all a good eight hours drive from any of the areas which the Foreign Office has advised against visiting.

A spokesperson for Thomas Cook UK & Ireland said: "We continue to monitor the situation in Egypt and are working in close contact with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Our experienced teams on the ground assure us that no tourist areas at the Red Sea have been affected.”

Flights to Sharm el Sheikhk are continuing as normal, they say and the Foreign Office has precautions for any travellers to Egypt include.

1.    Checking that you are well covered on your travel Insurance.
2.    The company you plan to travel with ABTA or Atol registered
3.    Make sure you keep up to date with news and check the Foreign
Office website for any updates https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/egypt

Currently, advice on their website urges Britons against travelling to the North Sinai district and say that any airport passengers travelling to destinations involving a transit stop in Cairo should remain inside the airport.

“The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advise against all travel to the Governorate of North Sinai due to the significant increase in criminal activity and recent terrorist attacks on police and security forces that have resulted in deaths.”

Air Baltic and Tez Tour winter will be transferred to Egypt, 12,000 tourists

Latvian national airline Air Baltic in cooperation with international tour operator Tez Tour this winter will perform more than 80 winter charter flights and serve them 12 thousand passengers, said Vice-President Corporate Communications Janis Vanags.Flights to Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh will be operated Boeing 737-300 aircraft every Saturday and Sunday from October to April, 2013.As stressed by Air Baltic CEO Martin Gauss, airline Air Baltic and Tez Tour - long-term partners that offer charter flights and tourists in winter and in summer. "We are very pleased with the opportunity to expand our cooperation", - he said.CEO Tez Tour in the Baltics Constantine Palgov also expressed satisfaction with the expansion of cooperation between the two companies.Earlier, in an interview with business information Baltic Business Service Agency BNS Gaus said that, unfortunately, no one is using winter Air Baltic aircraft for charter flights.Air Baltic operates flights to more than 60 destinations from its base in Riga. Each of these items Air Baltic offers connections via North Hub Riga to its network spanning Europe, Scandinavia, Russia and other CIS countries, the Middle East. Largest owner is the state airline.
http://biznes.delfi.lv/bnews/airbaltic-zimoj-otvezet-v-egipet-12000-turistov.d?id=42776164

World’s Largest Swimming Pool in Egypt

World's Largest Swimming Pool in Egypt. You want to swim in the area but was afraid to swim in the ocean? Visit Egypt, then you can feel like a swim in the sea area. A luxury resort in Egypt, Sharm El Sheikh will have the largest pool in the world. Swimming pool is planned to be shaped like a lagoon, complete with sand and palm trees at the edges. 

The world’s largest swimming pool in Sharm El Sheikh this property will have an area of 120,000 square meters of sand along the 22 kilometers. Once the size of this pool, even a boat can sail and windsurf iatasnya. Current record for the largest pool in the world is still held by the San Alfonso del Mar Resort in Chile, with a pool of 20 times the size of an Olympic swimming pool and filled with as many as 66 million gallons of water.

The world’s largest swimming pool is not the only remarkable innovations of this luxury resort. Later a large resort will also be equipped with a hotel complex, 20,000 residential properties, an international tennis academy and golf course. Sharm El Sheikh also be filled with cafes, nightclubs, bars and restaurants. Visitors can watch movies in theaters are also shopping at the stores. 

“Later on Sharm El Sheikh will be the new tourist center not only in Egypt, but also in the Middle East,” said Yehia al-Meteini, designers resort is as quoted from Dailymail.

Egypt Named "Official Home for British Diving"

Egypt has been named diver Destination of the Year 2011.

Mrs Omayma El Husseini, the new Director of the Egyptian State Tourist Office in the UK, accepted the award during the official DIVER Awards ceremony together with Mr Ahmed Hany and Mr Nasri Salib from the Egyptian State Tourist Office Diving Unit in Egypt.

The VIP reception took place at the Novotel, London ExCeL, on Friday, 30 March, organised by the DIVER Group. Additional success was achieved by Red Sea based Camel Dive Club, which won the award for Dive Centre of the Year 2011 for the first time.

Diving enthusiasts across the UK have been voting at the DIVER Awards annually for 14 years, which makes them an authentic source for the top players within the dive industry. Since the Destination of the Year category was introduced in 2003, Egypt has won every consecutive year aside from one when it was awarded second. This year, Egypt outpaced the Maldives and Indonesia, being named once again as the official “Home of British diving”.

Mrs Omayma El Husseini, Director UK, Egyptian State Tourist Office, commented, “We are delighted to hear that Britain’s divers have again voted for Egypt. Egypt’s strong diving offer, year round climate and historical importance have always provided a diverse holiday for any age group.

“Egypt has gone through recent political changes, however this is the first time this has happened in over 30 years and the country is already settling back in. Everything is still very positive.

“The affinity Egypt has with the UK tourism market has always been strong. Winning the Destination of the Year Award is a great sign of trust in Egypt as a hot spot for divers and all tourists alike.”

The Dive Centre of the Year and Liveaboard of the Year categories are also frequently won by dive centres based in Egypt. Hesham Gabr, founder of the Camel Dive Club & Hotel, which became Dive Centre of the Year, commented:

“We are especially proud to have won the Dive Centre of the Year Award for 2011, because this is the same year in which Sharm El Sheikh vas voted Dive Destination of the Year in the World Tourism Awards. British divers have shown us high loyalty over the past year and we would like to thank all divers who have supported us. We look forward to enjoying further world-class Red Sea dives in 2012 and beyond.”Egypt is a mecca for diving enthusiasts. The country’s two coastlines total 2,500km with the Red Sea Riviera being the biggest stretch of warm coastline and beautiful underwater reefs. Year round sunshine, stunning white sandy beaches and a colourful marine life in crystal clear water make Egypt a preferred destination for travellers seeking both undersea adventures and relaxation in the sun. The main seaside resorts Sharm el-Sheikh, Hurghada, El Gouna, Taba Heights, Soma Bay and Makadi Bay offer accommodation ranging from budget to luxury and an extensive choice of restaurants, cafes, bars and nightclubs.

Published by Ozgur Tore
WEDNESDAY, 04 APRIL 2012 18:23

Advice for those who want to go to Egypt

Egypt is certainly a magical country that is able to win thanks to his charm made ​​of ancient history, a culture whose origins are lost forever and stunning scenery, the world that few others can match. Difficult to determine which are the most beautiful destinations in Egypt, but still it is possible to identify some of its most famous and popular tourist resort. Among the new entries in recent years point out once Marsa Alam, a small fishing village only a few years has been discovered by tourists, while striving to preserve intact its natural beauty that seems not yet been touched by mass tourism. If you seek peace, relaxation and simple contact with nature then a resort Marsa Alam is just right for you. Definitely the most developed tourist is instead Sharm el Sheikh, long one of the most famous places of Egypt, located in the southern part of the Sinai peninsula and lapped by the Red Sea. Impossible, then, forget the town of El questions, located along the southern coast of Egypt to the border with Sudan, just halfway between Hurghada and Marsa Alam, Dehab, a charming town on the southeastern coast of the Sinai Peninsula , once a small fishing village, now well-known seaside resort on the Gulf of Aqaba, Safaga, port and tourist center of the Red Sea, Hurghada, modern and fun town. Finally, among the last places in Egypt that have established themselves as tourist destinations of the first level, you must cite Port Ghalib is located along one of the most beautiful stretches of coast a few km from Marsa Alam.

Where do we dive in Egypt?



Sharm el Sheihk

Written by DN's travel editor

QUESTION:
We will travel to Egypt in the winter, mainly for diving. We are going to both Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh. Which dive sites you can recommend?
Krister

ANSWER:
Both Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh are charter cities with good service for divers. But their charm attracts different kinds of people, and experienced divers happy to tell you about their favorites.


Hurghada

Hurghada is composed of an enormous expansion of the extensive tourist facilities in the concrete in the north-south along the Red Sea coast. The resort was established precisely because diving in the area is so fantastically well, even if reefs in recent years is suffering from erosion and coral bleaching. In comparison to the more polished Sharm, so you know how old Hurghada is, and especially Russian families like instead.

Off the coast of Hurghada lies Giftun Islands, a few islands that you can go to the dive boat and divers suit with decent or great experience. They are surrounded by a number of spectacular reefs thronging with life, such as Hamden, Banana Reef, Sha'ab Sabrina, Erg Somaya and Sha'ab turf. Depths ranging from 5 to 30 meters which means that you are able to do really long dives.



Ras Mohammed

Sharm is shamelessly glittery and glamorous, with a growing number of world-class hotels that are crowded on the beach plots. Not unlike Las Vegas attracts so this desert oasis many wealthy tourists, but if you do your research and put some time looking around, so you can make a good deal.
The coast around Sharm include Ras Mohammed National Park, which could be the world's most spectacular coral reefs. There are over 100 different fish species, including hammerheads, manta rays, whale sharks and other species that divers often want to see, but rarely do. Not forgetting the Thistlegorm, a legendary wrecks from World War II that was discovered by Jacques Cousteau 1956th 

Dahab

If you have time, go up the coast from Sharm to Dahab, a Thailand-themed place with a number of backpacker hotels and restaurants. In addition to banana pancakes and apple-sheeshan (water pipe), so focus divers where the Blue Hole. This infamous divers is a gaping hole that leads straight down into a muddy pit and reaches down to 130 meters.

Be Shaken, Not Stirred With Hotels in Sharm

When most of us think of Sharm el Sheikh we picture white sandy beaches, and diving clubs, taking holidaymakers underwater with the coral reefs of the Red Sea. However, on dry land there are plenty of great bars and hotels in Sharm which can provide you with cocktails to die for, so get your glad rags on and prepare yourself for some fabulous themed cocktails.

Once you emerge from your hotels in Sharm el Sheikh, the first stop should be Soho Square. The hippest spot in the area for nightlife, you can take your pick of great bars and restaurants, clubs and boutiques. There is plenty here to do by day, and even has an ice rink if you’re in the mood for some skating. But it’s the evenings when it really comes alive, and you could spend the whole night just in this area if you wanted to.

The Mandarin is one of the chicest bars in the area. Offering Asian ambiance at its best, this is a very stylish spot to stop for a drink. The interior lighting changes throughout the evening to keep the mood fresh, and speaking of fresh, the food here is delicious. Try some tasty Asian appetisers while you decide which cocktail to try… although The Mandarin is famous for its incredible Mai Tais.

You might want to leave your summer clothing at your Sharm el Sheikh hotels if you plan on heading to the resort’s coolest of bars, the Ice Bar. Similar to its sister bars which can be found in many big cities, the temperature in the bar is set at -5C – cold weather clothing is available on request if required!

Inside, the whole interior is actually made of ice, from the chairs and tables, to the walls and bar. You won’t need any drinks on the rocks as even the glasses are made of ice. The only thing that’s not frozen is the alcohol, so try a shot of something strong to warm you up from the inside out. It’s an invigorating experience.

Claire Collins is a writer who loves to travel. She recently came back from a trip to Egypt where she stayed in some fantastic Sharm el Sheikh hotels.

http://eva-news.com/travel/travel/be-shaken-not-stirred-with-hotels-in-sharm/23867114/