In an effort to regain its pre-2011 status as a tourism hub, Egypt plans to introduce mandatory travel insurance to all its visitors, which will cover personal accidents, disability and death, as well as medical expenses.
The step follows the strange death of a British couple in a Hurghada hotel, with some blaming faulty air-conditioning and food poisoning, and others suspecting natural causes.
Egypt’s Financial Regularity Authority will conduct a study to determine common accidents in the country, and the international insurers that travelers would buy while booking their vacation. Following that, Egypt will choose a company to deliver insurances through a tender by the FRA, according to the International Travel and Health Insurance Journal (ITIJ).
If Egypt carries on with the idea, it will not be the first to introduce compulsory travel insurance. Countries such as the US, Cuba, the UAE, Antarctica, Qatar and Turkey all require mandatory health insurance to be purchased before entering the country, while Thailand is undergoing a similar debate.
John and Susan Cooper were found dead in their room of a popular Thomas Cook resort in Hurghada. The couple died in the Steigenberger Aqua Magic, where other guests suffered stomach aches and vomiting. The government’s preliminary assessment was that the couple died from “natural causes”, but investigations around the event are still ongoing.
While the incident received wide coverage, it was not the first of its kind. Earlier in August, a Czech tourist lost his life in a shark attack while holidaying in Marsa Alam, the Red Sea. In January, a South African tourist was also killed in a hot air balloon crash, while others were injured.
Nevertheless, Egypt’s tourism has witnessed a considerable improvement in 2018. Tourism revenues jumped 77 percent in the first half of 2018, a government official told Reuters. In April, Minister of tourism Rania Al-Mashat announced that the number of tourists visiting Egypt jumped by 30 percent during the first quarter of 2018, compared to last year.
