Saturday, February 15, 2014

Is It Safe To Visit Egypt?

It is no secret that Egypt has recently been quite unstable. Several countries, including the United States of America and Russia have quite strongly recommended their citizens against travelling to Egypt. This is greatly due to the fact that this political instability has brought with it a storm of unwanted violence and riots.
However, as an Egyptian, I'd like to take a second to take a closer look at this "instability". Mainly, Egypt's tourism can be split into two categories, Holiday-tourism and Attraction-tourism. Quite a few people choose to combine both, but I believe this is a fair angle to view the problem.
Holiday Tourists:

Essentially, these tourists head towards the out skirts of the country. Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada, Gouna, Ein-El Sokhna and Sahl Hasheesh. Each of these locations is at least a few hundred kilometers away from Cairo and Alexandria. I believe it to be unfair to refer to these places as "unstable". All the violence that has happened lately has been contained in Cairo and Alexandra, due to them being the two largest cities in Egypt and where the protests tend to happen. Tourists planning on visiting these places should not at all worry when doing so, as these places haven't, to date, shown any evidence of instability.
Attraction-tourism:
These tourists, on the other hand, are more geared towards Cairo, Alexandria and Luxor. This is due to the fact that most Egyptian historic attractions are located in these areas. The Pyramids of Giza and the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the Valley Of Kings in Luxor, etc.. Luxor, fortunately, hasn't seen any instability. Partly because of the Government's insistence on this area remaining calm for the flourishment of Tourism. Cairo and Alexandria however aren't as lucky, and areas close to downtown seem to continue with protests. Aside from the central areas, these two cities are very safe and should not cause worry.
As an outsider, Egypt may seem quite unstable. However, as an Egyptian living there, in Cairo, the city remains to be safe and there is no cause for distress.
As a tourist, I understand that you may have justified concerns when making plans to visit the country. I can, however, reassure you that aside from Cairo's Tahrir Square and Alexandria's downtown, the whole of the country remains to be very safe. Take the necessary precautions you would as a tourist in any place. Do not walk in the streets when it's very late, stay away from unsafe areas and avoid dark alleys. Who wouldn't do that anyways! For extra security, make sure you've signed with a travel agency, here's a list of Egyptian travel agencies .
If you plan on visiting Egypt, make sure you pass by our website for travelling to egypt tips and guides.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8170053
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