Sharm El Sheikh DMC urges corporates not to cancel

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The president of an Egyptian destination management company Emeco Trave has urged meeting and event organisers not to pull their groups from Sharm El Sheikh.

Karim ElMinabawy, president at Emeco Travel, said the situation remained unclear following the Russian plan crash in the Sinai desert.

UK and Russian flights to the red Sea destination have been suspended and security heightened amid fears the crash was caused by a bomb.

According to newspaper reports security chiefs are investigating reports that a bomb may have been put into passenger luggage at a hotel in Sharm El Sheikh.

A report in the London Times said: “Everybody even remotely linked to the plane has been summoned, from hotel workers to the staff on the flight.”

Karim ElMinabawy said his firm had received calls from clients to ask about cancellation fees.

He said: “I would ask clients to be wise, to be patient, and not to make any decisions about group booking for December and January. They should wait for the conclusions of the official investigation which I believe will be in about 10 days time. Any decisions made before then will be premature.

“The situation is still unclear because we have just started the week. Things will become more clear over the next few days.”

A spokeswoman for Hilton Hotel group said: “I have confirmed with the region that we have no corporate business groups at all at our hotels in Sharm.”

A spokeswoman for the Four Seasons said the hotel chain had no comment.