Prague, Aug 1 (CTK) – Travel agencies have not recorded any demands to cancel trips to Egypt after the news was broken that the Czech woman stabbed by a young Egyptian man who attacked tourists with a knife on a beach in Hurghada in mid-July died last week, daily Lidove noviny (LN) writes today.
According to the investigation conducted by the Egyptian police, the assailant, 29, was in contact with members of the terrorist Islamic State (IS), but the Czech Foreign Ministry has not confirmed the information, LN writes.
The assailant stabbed to death two German tourists, seriously injuring another two.
The tragic event has scared the Czechs who wanted to spend their summer holidays on Egyptian beaches, it adds.
“Just after the event clients started calling to be informed how the situation looks in the country, but we have not registered any cancellations of the planned trips,” Jan Bezdek, from the Fischer travel agency, told the paper.
Czech travel agencies have not recorded any demands to have the trips rerouted either.
“We cannot see any reduced interest in Egypt or Turkey,” Stanislav Zima, spokesman for the Exim Tours travel agency, is quoted as saying.
“Everyone is afraid of terrorism. However, it is decisive how we cope with the fear, whether we succumb to panic or whether we judge the whole affair in a calm fashion. Czech clients are in the second category,” Jan Papez, spokesman for the Association of Travel Agencies, told the paper.
“They ask lots of questions, but as shown by the statistics, they keep traveling,” he added.
“The clients consider the accident an act committed by an individual, which may happen anywhere in the world,” Papez said.
Along with Turkey and Tunisia, Egypt is one of the countries chosen by Czechs for their last minute trips, LN writes.
Travel agencies denote Egypt in unison as a country with a record high increase in sales.
In 2015, it was visited by 117,000 Czechs, while the figure soared to 220,000 last year.
When it comes to Greece, the fears of the migrant crisis are also over. According to the latest estimates, some 300,000 Czech tourists left for it last year, LN writes.
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