As the US-Iran war continues to wreak havoc on travel in and around the Middle East, tours to Egypt are returning.
G Adventures confirmed that it resumed all of its Egypt tours this week. However, all Jordan and Oman departures have been cancelled through to the end of April.
“It is such a sad situation for Jordan in particular,” G Adventures managing director Australia, New Zealand and Asia, Sean Martin told Karryon.
“They rely so much on tourism, with no natural resources. The impact that this is having on local communities is devastating. Just when they were getting back on their feet, due to no fault of their own, they get kicked right back down.
“I’m really hoping the industry gets behind destinations like Jordan when we come out of this.”
Intrepid Travel is also scheduled to resume Egypt operations on 1 April. But all Jordan and Oman trips are cancelled until at least 15 April.
Earlier this month, it told Karryon that it’s also assessing the best option for an early April departure in Saudi Arabia.
Explore Worldwide, meanwhile, says that its Egypt tours are “continuing with no impact”.
“We have had groups travelling in Egypt since the situation in the Middle East escalated,” Explore Regional Director Australia and New Zealand Ben Ittensohn told Karryon.
“We currently have one group in Egypt, which is operating safely, with no changes to the itinerary.
“We have no plans to cancel our upcoming Egypt departures, however we continue to remain in regular contact with our ground agent – and we are monitoring news updates and travel advisories.”
Situation “stable”
Elsewhere, Explore’s ground agent in Oman has confirmed that the situation on the ground there is “stable”.
“All tourist sites are open and operating normally,” Ittensohn remarked. “Our next tour in Oman departs 4 April 2026.”
But the operator has cancelled all of its tours in Jordan up to and including 4 April.
“Our team are in contact with those agents and customers with affected bookings to discuss their options,” Ben said.
The operator has also cancelled its next Saudi Arabia departure scheduled for 14 April, “after which we have no more scheduled departures till October”.
Bunnik Tours says that all of its customers “currently on tour in Egypt are continuing to enjoy their holidays and have had their flights home rebooked to travel via Europe”.
According to Joint CEO, Dennis Bunnik, the situation on the ground in Egypt “remains as it was pre this crisis with all sights and hotels open and operating as normal”.
However, given that the company relies primarily on its Australian-based customers, most of whom would normally fly through the Gulf, the operator has decided to cancel “all [future] tours to Egypt, Jordan and Oman through to 30 April”.
Bunnik says that the decision is based “purely on air-access”.
“All passengers on these tours are booked on either Emirates or Qatar and have flights as part of their tour package,” he tells Karryon.
“Given the government’s ‘Do Not Travel’ warnings for the UAE and Qatar, including for transit passengers, it would not be responsible for us to fly passengers through these airports even with flights operating.
“All impacted travel agents and passengers are being contacted at the moment and are being offered a 100% credit for future travel with Bunnik Tours.”
Intrepid Travel, TTC Tour Brands, G Adventures and Globus family of brands were among numerous companies to take part in a recent real-time supplier update forum on Middle East travel disruptions. Organised by the Australian Travel Industry Association (ATIA), the event aimed to deliver direct guidance to ATIA-accredited travel advisors and tour operators on the current situation in the Middle East region. Read more about those briefings here.
KARRYON UNPACKS: Egypt’s reopening shows how quickly travel sentiment can shift during geopolitical tensions. For Australian travellers and advisors, air access, and to a lesser extent, government warnings remain the real swing factors shaping bookings across the Middle East.
