AIBU to ask if you'd travel to Egypt?

[TokenGinger]

Following the devastating events in Tunisia last week, what would your thoughts be on travelling to Egypt? I was actually in Tunisia at the resort where it happened five days prior to the attack, so it feels a little too close to home!

A few people have said I'm being silly to change my plans to go to Egypt in December based on this, however, my dad has pleaded for me to stay away from Muslim countries for the time being. The people who have said I'm being silly say that, they're clearly targeting tourist hotspots - it could happen just as easily in Tenerife as it could in a Muslim country. But from what I know, isn't there something to do with the borders being in Libya open to certain countries that allow it to be easier?

I would feel on edge anywhere now except Uk or USA which is why we only holiday in us

This seems an odd approach to the holidaying situation. There are many countries much less likely to encounter a terrorist strike that the UK and USA!

I'm going out in a couple of months, but I go every year, have friends that live out there and other friends that go more frequently than I do. There is no way I will stop going to a place I love when the terrorist threat there is pretty much the same as in my own capital city.

I'm travelling to Sharm in 10 weeks time, I'm at a loss as what to do too :(

I shall watch this thread with interest.

I wouldn't go right now, but that's because I hate resorts and the areas I want to see are dangerous right now because they are quite remote. I think you are highly unlikely to have any problems in the resorts. There is always a risk, but then sadly, as others have pointed out, there is a risk in cities in the UK also.

I also agree with nigelslaterfan's post.

DisappointedOne - I was responding the to very first bit of information on that page!!

Latest update: Terrorism section - on 29 June, Egyptian Public Prosecutor Hisham Barakat was killed and a number of others injured in an explosion in Heliopolis, Cairo

PtolemysNeedlW and shovetheholly - I hear exactly what you're saying.

I do wonder if the thought process of the attacks being unlikely to be in resorts is outdated though, following the Tunisian attack. Literally five days earlier, I was lying on the exact spot of beach where the terrible massacre took place.

I would feel on edge anywhere now except Uk or USA which is why we only holiday in us

How silly. I can assure you Australia and New Zealand is very safe. I would assume NZ is safer than the UK and U.S. And most of East Asia has nothing to do with Islam. Japan, Korea, are all first world country and not Christian or Muslim. They are very much out of the conflict. I would say Malay Muslims are not really into the Middle East conflict either but if you are that paranoid you might want to avoid Malaysia and Singapore.

I wanted to visit Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt about 7 years back and DH said not a cat in the proverbial's chance would be visit any north African country due to the civil wars. And this was prior to any of the "Arab Uprisings" or ISIS etc. He states this to this day and wouldnt entertain it. If the FCO is advising against it, I wouldn't. It's just risking trouble IMO.

I wouldn't go any Muslim country at the moment.

Token - I don't know whether the advice has been updated very recently, but the government page does say that there's a risk of attack in tourist resorts but that they are more or less safe. If you think about the enormous numbers who frequent Sharm etc. it's still a very, very remote possibility. I imagine that literally tens and tens of thousands of people lie on that beach every year, so it's a mistake to think that just being there is a kind of brush with death. I don't want to diminish the horror of what happened, but you've probably got a bigger chance of being hit by a bus or something.

All of our attitudes to risk are strange, though, aren't they? I was on my way to work on the Piccadilly Line train that blew up on 7/7 so I know all too well that this can happen in London. I don't live there any more but I still use the tube when I'm down, because I figure that the risk is small and the inconvenience large. (I used it the day after the attack, in fact, when it was empty). I guess with holidays, you have more selection so the inconvenience isn't as high. This may make the risk loom a bit larger than it actually is?

I would not go to any Muslim country

I wouldn't even go if it was free.

I wanted to visit Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt

I was in Morocco a few weeks ago, DH is in Egypt now. As others have said, the risks of getting caught up in something are so incredibly tiny......

I went to Sharm last year. Our hotel was unbelievably secure, with men surrounding it with huge guns, lots of check points etc. I felt safe enough.

Now though, sadly I wouldn't go there at the moment. I hate being one of those people who are scared, but would not want to feel on edge all holiday. The likelihood is that nothing would happen, but it just doesn't appeal to me right now.

I would go to Egypt. Wouldn't bother me at all. The chances of anything happening are miniscule. I doubt they are more unsafe than London or New York or any major city.

Jewels. How could you feel safe in a place where tourists are under armed guard?
I wouldn't go, the risk maybe tiny but I wouldn't take my dc anywhere near it.
Before my dc I travelled extensively in the middle east and felt safe.

We had snipers on the roof of my old office. You get used to things like that amazingly quickly!

My 22 year old daughter flew out to Egypt on Monday for a week. She says security is very tight. I did not want her to go and will be glad when she gets home. However my husband works in Canary Wharf should I stop him from going to work every day?

Why anyone would want to go on holiday to a place where there had to be an overt security presence is beyond me.

I don't think comparisons with London are helpful. Probably all would be fine. But there are murderous fanatics targeting westerners in North Africa and those borders are porous. How much easier to shoot westerners on a beach in a neighbouring country than to attack London or Madrid?

I wouldn't go to North Africa if you paid me. Hated Egypt anyway have never been so sexually harassed in my life eventually my friend and I (mid twenties in Cairo) didn't feel we could leave the hotel.

Why anyone would want to go on holiday to a place where there had to be an overt security presence is beyond me.

Millions visit London every year!

Practically every resort hotel in the carribean has armed guards on the perimeter fence!

No I would not. And I definitely wouldn't if you are planning to go to Sharm. Other beach resorts are available.

I travelled round Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Morocco some years ago. Egypt never felt that safe and we had to have armed guards to go to some of the more remote monuments. I felt a shiver down my spine when we went to visit the Hatshepsut mortuary temple where 70 tourists had been massacred a couple of years beforehand. I would not go to any of these places currently as I believe the risk to tourists to be high.

I love Egypt and on previous threads in previous years I have always advised to go ahead with your plans. But the situation now is different - rather than the chance of being accidentally caught up in demos, marches, street violence etc (and being able to minimise/neutralise the risk by staying on-resort) the events of last week show that that offers no protection.
Regrettably (I hate jet lag!) I shall be heading south west rather than south east on holidays for the foreseeable future.

I have been previously, loved it and always vowed to go back, but right now? No, I wouldn't. I have anxiety problems and I just don't think I'd be able to fully relax.