Germany to lift Sharm El-Sheikh travel warning : Ambassador

Dalia Farouk, Monday 7 Jul 2014

Germany's foreign ministry strongly warned against travel to the Red Sea resort town after a bomb blast killed four in Taba in February

tourist
Tourist at Sharm El-Sheikh.(Photo:Ahram)

Germany may lift its travel warning on Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt's South Sinai governorate in the next few hours, the German ambassador to Cairo, Hansjorg Haber, told Egypt's tourism minister in a phone call on Monday.

Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou has been trying to remove all travel bans on Egypt imposed by European countries since February, when a bomb blast on a tour bus in South Sinai killed three South Koreans and their Egyptian driver and raised concerns about safety in Red Sea resorts.

The incident caused Germany's foreign ministry to issue a warning against travel to all regions of the Sinai Peninsula – a staple of Egypt's travel industry and package holidays.

In the first four months of this year, 2.8 million visitors came to Egypt, a 2.75 percent decline from the same period last year, according to official figures.

In May, Zaazou said that the tourism sector has witnessed relative progress. However, the ministry has not released any official figures yet.
 

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