The U.S. State Department recently issued travel warnings to Algeria and Libya as turned violent in the Middle East and North Africa, but the impact on travel in the region remained unclear Friday.
Robert Polk, owner of Denver-based Polk Corporate Travel Management, said a few of his clients decided not to travel to Egypt based on the developments. But he was not seeing a wave of rebookings.
Douglas County-based engineering giant CH2M Hill, which conducts business throughout the Middle East, is keeping its employees in the region for now, a spokeswoman said.
“Senior and regional management continue to monitor events in the Middle East. At this point, the impact of protests on CH2M Hill’s interests is minimal,” said Tessa Anderson.
Once the U.S. government issues traveling to countries in turmoil, it often triggers heightened sensitivity and protocol for companies in the travel industry.
“Stuff happens pretty much all over, all the time. There’s a consistent noise level,” said Robert Mann, an airline analyst and consultant. “But the State Department travel advisory increases that.”
A variety of security notices were posted for U.S. citizens in most of the other countries affected by anti-American protests, such as Kuwait, Yemen, Egypt and Sudan. These notices range in magnitude. Some are merely strong suggestions, advising U.S. citizens of areas to avoid, while others are stern warnings urging Americans to, if possible, leave the country.
Airlines are limited in what they can communicate to the public.
“The only notification that occurs (from the airline) is if the country cannot maintain aviation security or it has no facility for maintaining the safety of the system,” Mann said. “Then you will see an FAA and a DOT notice that says it cannot assure the safety of a person traveling there.”
Anthony Black, a spokesman for — which flies into Cairo via its alliance partner KLM — couldn’t confirm the specifics of the airline’s protocol related to regions experiencing political unrest. Black did say that airline officials base their flight-operation decisions on a variety of information.
Kristen Leigh Painter: 303-954-1638, kpainter@denverpost.com or twitter.com/kristenpainter
