British Parliament Encourages Lifting the Travel Ban Imposed on Sharm El Sheikh

Stephen Timms, British member of parliament, revealed on September 11 at the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) that the UK should lift the travel ban that was imposed on Sharm El Sheikh preventing direct flights from arriving to Sharm El Sheikh Airport.

As a result of rising security concerns, many European countries restricted their flights to the Red Sea resort destination, Sharm El Sheikh. These concerns were brought forth in 2015 after the Russian jet bomb incident that killed 224 on-board tourists and vacationers.

Timms who is also president of the Egyptian-British Parliamentary Friendship Association, encouraged British tourists to visit Egypt. He is working with the House of Commons and the House of Lords to help lift the travel ban imposed on Sharm El Sheikh in order to make the resort location more accessible.

Despite the step forward, there have been few stories that have affected recent British tourism to Egypt. Recently in September, two British tourists were killed by E. Coli Bacteria in Hurghada.

The death of the two British tourists caused a stir in British media, with almost daily news reports containing new rumors and theories as to what may have caused their deaths. This news also affected incoming tourists who were planing to visit Egypt in 2018.

The Egyptian tourism suffered a heavy blow after the 2011 revolution, resulting in a sharp decline in the number of tourists by a total of 62% between 2011 and 2014, as some governments as well as travel agencies were concerned with the security situation in Egypt.

However there are still national and international efforts that are taking measures to ensure tourists’ safety and encourage more visitors to pick Egypt as their holiday destination.