Travelers are canceling or postponing their planned vacations to Middle East and North Africa with fears that Israel’s conflict with Hamas could worsen and as travel companies have altered destinations and canceled flights.

Demand for leisure travel to the region was hit after Israel announced that the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas had killed 1,400 people in southern Israel on October 7 and Israeli air and ground retaliation raids on Gaza which according to the Palestinian authorities they have claimed the lives of more than 9,000 people.

Major airlines have extended the temporary suspension of flights to Israel until the end of the year, while cruise lines they change their itineraries to avoid neighboring countries as well.

Travel agents say the war is affecting demand for travel to neighboring countries, including Egypt, Jordan and Turkey.

“We’re seeing customers canceling cruises, like one on the Nile in Egypt even as far back as December 2024 because of concern about war,” says Todd Elliott, CEO of cruise vacation outlet Cruise Vacation Outlet in Orlando, Florida.

Cruise company Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings informed investors on Wednesday that it is seeing an increase in cancellations and a decrease in the number of bookings in the region, mainly short-term ones.

Both Norwegian and Royal Caribbean Group have changed their 2024 itineraries to avoid ports in Israel.

Washington, D.C.-based booking platform startup @Hotel says it has noticed 70% reduction in new bookings for countries in the region.

More than 40% of trips to Egypt in November and December have already been cancelled on the platform, says CEO Konrad Valizevsky.

Cancellation rates in Turkey and Cyprus doubled for November and December, he noted.

However, some industry representatives say this phenomenon will not last long.

“In terms of demand, based on what I’ve been told by CEOs I’ve spoken to, there’s no discernable impact (of the war) at this stage,” says Willie Walsh, head of the International Air Transport Association, a trade body that represents the field of aviation.

German airline Lufthansa said on Thursday that its bookings to areas in the Middle East have not been affected by the war with only an initial decline seen at the start of the conflict.

Cancellations even in Oman

Hotel group Marriott International said demand has eased and it has started to see some cancellations at its 27 hotels in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, according to the company’s chief financial officer Kathleen Oberg.

“While the conflict in Israel is very limited geographically so far we suspect that some cruise charterers are hesitant to plan a visit to a European destination, even in the western Mediterranean,” said Truist analyst Patrick Sauls.

Airline bookings to Egypt are down 26% in a year, to Jordan by 49% and to Lebanon by 74% since the start of the war, according to airline bookings data firm ForwardKeys, which is based in Valencia, Spain .

Spanish travel agency Essentialist said it had canceled 75% of trips to the wider Middle East and North East Africa region.

Australia-based Intrepid Travel says more customers are canceling trips to Egypt and Jordan, especially those due to travel at the end of the year.

The impact of the conflict on demand for travel to the Middle East may extend beyond the Christmas holidays and include countries that are not immediately neighboring.

“Our company has a charter flight from Norway to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, and for three to four weeks from now we don’t have any new bookings,” notes Khalid Ibrahim, co-founder of the Middle East Travel Association, which works with companies destination management that connects travel agencies with local providers.

About 40% of trips to Jordan have been cancelled, 20% to Egypt, 15% to Oman and 10% to the United Arab Emirates, he points out.

“Even Oman is getting cancellations despite being so far (from the war).”