Egypt: Germany warns citizens against travel to Sinai

Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. Photograph by Jim Greenhill

Following the recent escalation of violence in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in recent weeks, Germany’s Foreign Ministry has issued a travel warning urging tourists to avoid all parts of the region, including the popular Red Sea resorts.

This move follows a warning from the British Foreign Office (FCO) that advises against all travel travel to North Sinai due to “the significant increase in criminal activity and recent terrorist attacks on police and security forces that have resulted in deaths”.

The FCO also currently warns against all but essential travel to South Sinai and the governates of Beni Suef, Minya, Asyut and Sohag.

These warnings will come as a blow to Egypt that has struggled to maintain its once thriving tourist industry in the social and political chaos that has followed the ousting of dictator Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.