Mideast tourism hit by collapse of British holiday firm, UAE unaffected
Worldwide about 600,000 tourists have been stranded by the collapse.
By ARAB NEWS/TNS, KHALEEJ TIMES/TNS(photo credit: JON NAZCA/ REUTERS)
CAIRO - The collapse of the British travel company Thomas Cook rippled across the MENA region on Monday, with stranded holidaymakers, demands from hotels for payment, and fears for some countries’ tourism industries.Thomas Cook’s Egyptian agent Blue Sky said 25,000 reservations in Egypt booked up to April 2020 had been canceled. Blue Sky currently has 1,600 Thomas Cook tourists in Hugharda on the Red Sea, its chairman Hossam El-Shaer said.Worldwide about 600,000 tourists have been stranded by the collapse. The British government launched emergency plans to fly 150,000 of them home.Tunisia has set up a crisis center to deal with the fallout, with hotels claiming to be owed $65 million by the company in unpaid bills from July and August. Tunisian officials said the debts would be settled by the UK.“We currently have about 4,500 British tourists in the hotels who will finish their stay as scheduled, and their repatriation will be paid for by London,” Tourism Minister Rene Trabelsi said.Tourism chiefs in Turkey fear they could lose up to 700,000 visitors a year from the collapse, based on the number who had previously come to Turkey with Thomas Cook.Hoteliers’ federation chairman Osman Ayik said there were currently about 45,000 tourists in Turkey from the UK and other European countries who had traveled with Thomas Cook.“There are a large number of small businesses whose fates depend on Thomas Cook, especially in Mugla, Dalaman and Fethiye,” he said, and the company owed up to $35,000 to each of several small hotels.Thomas Cook operations in the UAE however, have not been affected by the collapse of Thomas Cook UK operations.Al Rostamani Travels used to represent Thomas Cook UK previously but later it tied up with Thomas Cook India, which is owned by Fairfax Financial Holdings Canada and is not a part of Thomas Cook UK.
