A number of travel agencies asked the government and the ministry of tourism to mediate immediately with the Saudi authorities to find a way to take back LE 1 billion forwarded by them as down-payment for hotel reservations in Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage, now that many pilgrims canceled their trips when the first swine flu case was detected in Saudi Arabia. According to the contracts that they have signed, these payments are non-refundable. They told Al-Masry Al-Youm: "The Ministry of Tourism must interfere with the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and resolve this crisis quickly, especially that the Tourism Chamber has failed in this task. It has also failed to find an insurance company to cover the contracts, as the insurance law does not grant compensation in the event of mass disasters."
Basil el-Sisi, a member of the chamber, said: "In case swine flu spreads more and pilgrims cancel their trips, there should not be a problem taking back the 25% down-payments of the contracts between the Egyptian Mission and the Saudi Ministry of Hajj. But the other LE 300 million that was paid directly to the hotels is at stake." He added: "Saudi Arabia had announced that it would not stop the pilgrimage, which gives the hotels the right not to reimburse the down-payments. The government must therefore intervene." He pointed out that the chamber had asked its members to wait and see what would happen. It also advised them that the contracts should allow for a cancellation clause in case of disaster. Ashraf Shiha, a member of the General Assembly of the Chamber of Tourism, said the first cases of swine flu in Saudi Arabia and in Egypt created a problem for the pilgrimage season, canceling many trips and causing great losses, especially that the chamber failed to find an insurance company that would cover the contracts. He added: "The real problem lies in the fact that the Ministry of Tourism always waits for other ministries, such as the ministries of health or the environment, to say if the pilgrimage would be cancelled. Also the Health Minister said he cannot prevent anyone from traveling, but he may have to hold passengers in the quarantines, which made people think twice. There must be a mechanism that guarantees the rights of the companies in the event of crisis."
Shiha also asked the Ministry of Tourism to push the application deadline for the travel agencies to July 20 at least until we know what will happen with the epidemic.
