The ongoing protests in Egypt against president Mubarak have caused chaos not only in the country but also in the PR industry. It's hard to rebuild damaged reputation especially when it comes to top travel destinations like Egypt.
The uprising made thousands of tourists evacuate from country's major cities leaving hotels and resorts empty. Even though most resorts are 8 hours away from Cairo and other big cities it seems that tourists still feel frustrated and are reluctant to stay or go to the country.
Comms specialists are trying new strategies to rebuild Egypt's international reputation. The main idea is to provide clients with accurate up-to-date information. PR practitioners constantly appear on a number of regional radio stations explaining that key tourist areas are unaffected trying to put them in context, i.e most of them are far away from Cairo and even are serviced by a different airport.
Would it be enough? In my opinion, once protests are gone, tourists will start flying to Egypt again because it is an interesting country with historic heritage.
I think the biggest and saddest issue is that of looters who have stolen valuable artifacts and items from the museums. The average citizen often has no idea of how important their culture and heritage is and what it means in terms of the tourism economy.
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