World Tourism Organization urges UK’s May to lift travel ban on Egypt

World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) urged the UK government to lift ban imposed on traveling to Egypt’s Sharm El Sheikh.

In a letter sent to UK Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday, Chairman and CEO of WTTC, David Scowsill and Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of UNWTO, emhpasised on the importance of resuming British flights to Sharm EL Sheikh .

The British government banned its airlines to operate flights to Egypt’s Sharm El Sheikh following the crash of Russia’s Metrojet airline on October 2015 in Sainai. The flight was heading from Sharm el Sheikh to St. Petersburg in Sinai.

Scowsill and Rifai said in their letter that  tourism is vital to Egypt’s economy and social peace since it participates by 11 percent of the country’s GDP and 2.6 million in jobs in 2015.

They added ” The reduction of visitors has created huge employment losses.  The country’s biggest concern is how the lack of employment opportunities, especially for young men and women, has instilled a desperate disposition and thus vulnerability to radicalisation or to fleeing on a refugee boat.”

Egyptian authorities have taken significant measures to step up the level of security not only in the airport but in the surrounding area as well, the officials elaborated, adding that these improvements meet safety standards as indicated by the UK Department for Transport.

“All other countries, including Germany and Russia, have allowed their airlines to start flying to Sharm el Sheikh again.” Scowsill and Rifai pointed out

“It is devastating to see the impact the current UK travel advisory has on Egypt and on the young workforce in particular. We call on the UK government to review the advisory and allow commercial aircraft to fly to Sharm el Sheikh and thereby help restore the country’s Travel & Tourism sector’s GDP and employment provision.”, the official concluded.