Is tourism already showing signs of picking up?

Tonight I've had a great phone call with Egypt - EO's tour director, Hazem.  Hazem will also be the tour director leading the tour I'll be joining on April 6.

There will be 12 people on the tour. 12 people is a lot for Hazem these days. This will be the most he's had since my last tour two years ago.

In January 2011, I went on my first tour to Egypt. There were 10 people in the group. We commenced the tour on 23 January and on 25 January whilst cruising the Nile, the famous Egyptian Revolution began. On 28 January, whilst in Alexandria things really heated up. We were rushed to our hotel and placed in immediate lock-down. We had no access to the internet, no mobile phone access, no access to ATMs. The following day we were rushed back to Cairo and again placed in hotel lock-down. Still we had no contact to the outside world to let our loved ones know we were safe. Over the next 20 hours we had some dramatic moments where the hotel was ransacked twice and we were locked-down in our rooms and told to turn off all the lights, close the blinds and not to leave our rooms. We couldn't even call others in our group using the phones in our room. The next day we were all carted off to the airport where thousands of other tourists were all trying to get flights to their next destination or home. It was mayhem! For me that was the most traumatic experience of it all. Hazem was our tour director for this tour and he was amazing the whole time. He created a sense of calm and reassured us that we were completely safe and not to worry. (check out the testimonials for Hazem on EO's website)

In May 2011, I returned to Egypt. This time there were only 5 of us on the tour. I had personally requested Hazem as the guide for this tour.  It was an amazing tour. However, due to the massive downturn in tourism, we had sites almost to ourselves. The comparison in photos is incredible but sad that the impact was so glaringly obvious.  One of my main disappointments was that all the little stalls at Kom Ombo and at the Temple of Horus in Edfu were for the most part shut. There were two stores in particular in Edfu I had hoped to visit. Alas, they were shut up.

Tourism in Egypt has taken an almighty hit! For two years, Western Media has portrayed Egypt as a destination to be avoided and nothing could be further from the truth, especially when one travels south and away from Cairo.

To be heading back to Egypt two years later, I'm anxious about seeing how much has really changed and the impact the political instability has further had on tourism.

Tonight Hazem has told me that if there are things I'm really wanting to buy, then I should look for them in Khan el-Khalili (the famous old bazaar district in Cairo) as the stores in the towns we will visit along the Nile aren't trading to the levels they were in May 2011. It's so disappointing yet unfortunately understandable. The lack of tourist dollars has had such an impact on the livelihood of thousands of locals who rely on tourism to support themselves and their families.

So 12 people on my April tour is fantastic news for Hazem. Tour directors are paid by their employers a small amount for leading a tour. They then make most of their money from the tips the guests give them at the end of the tour. The standard tip Western tour companies recommend guests give their director/guide is approximately USD40 for a 9 day tour. That's not very much. All tours I was previously on with Hazem, we each gave him USD100. That's still not very much in the grand scheme of things for us Westerners, but to an Egyptian that's a lot of money these days when you times it by 12 people.

This time next week, I'll be inflight somewhere over the Indian Ocean and only just under 11 hours away from Cairo.

It may sound strange yet I can't wait to walk out of the airport (albeit it at 3am in the morning) and get hit with the smell and sounds of Cairo. It's a hot, dusty scent of wood smoke, with constant sounds of car horns. Cairenes use their car horns to communicate with other drivers. Karl Pilkington, the Idiot Abroad hated the smells and sounds of Cairo. I love them!

Egyptian Odysseys takes a personal trip back to Egypt to see what it's really like

Egyptian Odysseys (EO) is a boutique tour company based in Australia.

EO launched in November 2012 and with all the media reports swirling about regarding Egypt's instability, we've had a very slow start. 

Being the owner of a tour company, I want to be able to have first hand experience of the current situation in Egypt so I can talk honestly with prospective guests on what to expect. How can one really promote something when one hasn't recently been to back to the destination?

On 4 April, I am travelling back Egypt to see for myself how safe it is.

I will be following the same itinerary EO offers to guests and taking in a few additional excursions to see new things.

My aim is to document and video my trip in the hope of spreading the word that Egypt is still a safe destination to travel to. 

So if you love Egypt, want to travel there but unsure about how safe it is, you're just a lover of all things Ancient Egyptian or you just want to be a sticky beak, then please follow my trip via this blog. 

Just click on the blue "Join this site" button at the top right of the page or submit your email in the "Follow by email" a little further down the page.