Due to security concerns, more and more people are cancelling previously booked trips to Egypt and Dubai, while at the same time looking for new, safer destinations for their summer holidays.
Aleksandar Seničić, director of the National Association of Travel Agencies (YUTA), spoke about which places could become more popular among tourists this year, as well as about the possible consequences that the current crisis may have on international tourism.
He points out that the drop in interest in travel is already noticeable, but that this is not an unusual reaction in situations like this.
“The excessive tension that has arisen is rational for the region where it is happening. Of course, it affects the rest of the world in some way as well. Since the beginning of these conflicts, over the past fifteen days there has been a significant decline in people’s interest in travel, regardless of the destination. It is always like that. We have had similar situations in the past. We are not discouraging people; we have safe destinations both in Europe and in some other parts of the world. It is not necessary to fly through these hubs. We used them because they were the most affordable. Airports in Qatar and Dubai were those through which the largest number of long-haul destinations were connected, offering the best and cheapest air tickets, which is very important to us. However, the western market does not rely too heavily on these airports; they travel through some other countries, but they also have direct flights from a large number of airports thanks to different types of aircraft that can reach those destinations in a single flight without the need for a stopover,” said Seničić.
Cyprus and Egypt still safe for tourists
Although some tourists have started thinking about cancelling their trips, Seničić emphasises that some popular destinations in the region are still operating without problems.
“Cyprus does not fall into the category of unsafe destinations; there was an incident involving that American base. People should understand that when countries are geographically dispersed, Cyprus is not a very large island, but the base is located about 150 kilometres away. At the moment, we have tourists in Cyprus and they have no problems at all. People are enjoying their holidays as normal,” Seničić notes.
As for the cancelling holidays and getting a refund, he says:“The issue with cancelling that type of arrangement is that the airlines operating those flights have no reason to refund the money, and they do not do so. When these cheapest holidays are already paid for, the ticket is non-refundable. When we talk about countries that are involved in a war, there is no problem with refunds or postponing travel. In those cases travel agencies are accommodating. But in terms of Egypt, Turkey, Cyprus and countries in the immediate region that are not affected by war, i.e. there is no war situation or state of emergency and airports and resorts are functioning normally, there is a problem with cancelling these holiday arrangements because travel agencies can deliver the service unhindered and see no formal or legal reason to cancel it. The advice is that people who contact us and are supposed to spend their holidays in July and August in Egypt or Cyprus should not cancel their trips at the moment. As long as those flights remain in the airlines’ schedules, they will not refund the money. Airlines will not refund the money. There is no need to rush because the situation may stabilise relatively quickly and those holiday arrangements purchased with large discounts might still be used. That is generally what I tell people,” Seničić explains.
Flights to Dubai currently suspended
On the other hand, the situation with some destinations in the Middle East is currently far more complicated. According to him, regular air traffic to Dubai is currently suspended.
“At the moment we have no flights; they have been suspended. We cannot reach Dubai because the airspace is closed. Only aircraft coming from that direction are arriving, and those are evacuation flights. At this time Dubai is not functioning for tourism in regular traffic, nor are Abu Dhabi, Qatar or Bahrain. For now it is only occasionally possible to fly from Riyadh and Muscat. These are two airports in the region that people have used to travel overland to one of those countries and return that way, although there are restrictions there as well at certain times depending on the security situation,” he adds.
The current situation is also affecting travel to distant tourist destinations such as the Maldives or Thailand, because many arrangements were previously planned via airports in Doha or Dubai.
“The route via Istanbul and some other connections is functioning, but the problem is that we have a large number of people who paid for cheap arrangements via Doha and Dubai, and those flights are not possible. However, when you look at flights planned for the Seychelles via Dubai, you will see that flights to the Seychelles, Maldives and Thailand are scheduled from around 25 March. For now, it is an inconvenience, speaking from the perspective of travel agencies. Also, airlines will tell you two or three days in advance whether they can fly or not. Hotels will argue that you can still arrive from another direction, but they are the smaller problem,” Seničić concludes.
(Mondo, 12.03.2026)