Egypt relies on last-minute, independent travel market

NEW YORK -- Americans who still travel to the Middle East do so for a variety of reasons.

For Israel, the reasons continue to be important events like weddings and bar mitzvahs and solidarity missions. For Jordan, it's its religious history and ecotourism, according to the tourism board there.

And for Syria, Lebanon and Iran, it's archaeology or adventure, said travel agents and tour operators familiar with those destinations.

But most tour operators agree that the majority of U.S. tourists to the Middle East go to Egypt.

At Fairfax, Va.-based Key Tours, general manager Koray Edemen estimated that the firm carried more than 1,500 U.S. visitors to Egypt in the past year.

Last-minute, deal-conscious FITs have been driving Key Tours' Egypt market, Edemen said.

"It's a different clientele right now," he said. "They're looking for good value for the money and have more flexible time."

Ashraf Michael, vice president of Chicago-based Egypt Tours & Travel, estimated that his business carried 1,200 U.S. travelers to Egypt in the past year, about 65% of normal.

Egypt is getting the lion's share of U.S. tourism to the Middle East. Above, the temple at Abu Simbel.Egypt Tours & Travel recently added a special F.A.Q. page to its Web site at www.egypttours.com, addressing concerns from U.S. travelers about the safety of travel to the Middle East. Most often, he said, single women, who make up 40% of the firm's travelers, want assurance they will have social acceptance traveling alone.

Abercrombie & Kent president Alistair Ballantine said people are booking Egypt either "well out, for next spring and summer, because they believe things will settle down by then, or they're booking on short notice," he said.

Ballantine said the Oak Brook, Ill.-based operator received a strong response to its 2002 Nile Explorer promotion and now is offering a last-minute special on the 11-day land and cruise program.

For departures through Dec. 15, a companion in a cabin receives a 50% discount when one adult books at the full brochure rate. For those traveling alone, the single supplement is waived. Prices begin at $3,490 per person, double.

Ballantine described A&K's U.S. travelers to Egypt as "generally sophisticated, well-traveled and mostly empty-nesters."

Because of the geopolitical climate, tours combining Israel with Arab countries are rare, if any operators are offering them at all.

Egypt Tours & Travel, where business to Israel dropped 85% after Sept. 11, either terminated or put on hold all of its tours to Israel since July, Michael said.

Rita Zawaideh, owner of Caravan-Serai Tours of Seattle, recently returned from escorting a group of 13, including three travel agents, to Syria, Lebanon and her native Jordan.

Prior to June 2001, Zawaideh combined Israel with visits to Arab countries for a tour of Jordan and Israel that met with Israeli and Palestinian family and community leaders.

Today, she said, there is too much tension between operators on either side of the border to consider such an arrangement.

Ariel Tours, an Israel-only operator that used to pair Israel with Egypt and Jordan, has stopped extending tours to either Egypt or Jordan.

"The general atmosphere does not allow it," said owner Meir Weingarten.

Ariel Tours has sustained itself with business from "people who go to Israel no matter what," Weingarten said.