NAPLES, Italy — Scores of Naples residents are out nearly $250 after the Navy canceled two United Service Organizations trips to Egypt over the Memorial Day weekend because of security concerns.
“The bottom line was the safety of personnel and families,” said Capt. Stephen Hoefel, Navy Region Europe’s public safety director.
The cancellation ended up costing the 92 prospective travelers 192 euros each in last-minute cancellation fees imposed by Egypt Air and travel agencies.
Each person had paid at least 849 euros for the trip.
“We gave back [to the participants] everything we got back from the agencies,” said Naples USO director Simona Keeler. She said she understands people’s frustration over the cancellation and monetary loss.
Stars and Stripes has been unable to contact any of the people affected by the decision to cancel the trip.
The USO has since offered the participants a Memorial Day trip to Corfu, Greece, which they’re getting at a discounted fare, Keeler said. Of the 92 people scheduled to go to Egypt, 25 took the USO up on the offer.
Some of the travelers also approached the base’s Navy Legal Service Office to request a reimbursement from the Navy for the 192 euros, but officials say they’re not obliged to make up the difference.
“Unfortunately, the Navy has no authority for reimbursing the expenses incurred when personal travel, as opposed to official travel, is interrupted or cancelled,” Navy Region Europe public affairs officer Lt. Cmdr. Lisa Braun wrote in an e-mail to Stars and Stripes.
The Navy canceled the trip after the Naval Forces Europe Flag Officer Protection Board of Directors was given specific intelligence warning of the possibility of upcoming terrorist attacks in Egypt, Hoefel said.
“The information was that terrorists were targeting tourists and tourist venues,” Hoefel said, adding that he was standing in as a voting board member when the USO trip was being discussed.
“From the total information available, we advised them not to go to Egypt at this time,” he said.
The board made the decision on May 11 and Hoefel called Naples commanding officer Capt. Dave Frederick that afternoon to tell him of the board’s decision.
The USO, according to Keeler, found out from Frederick’s office on May 13 and immediately started notifying people and canceling the reservations, which had been in place for months.
“We want people to be able to travel, but when a decision is made [to cancel] not by the USO, but someone else, people need to understand that,” said Keeler. “Everyone should know this could happen with places like [Egypt].”
Hoefel said that this isn’t the first trip ordered cancelled by Navy officials for security concerns. He said that as commanding officer of Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, Crete, on Sept. 11, 2001, he ordered the annual Morale, Welfare and Recreation trips to Egypt cancelled for at least two years.
Egyptian vacations come with risks
Though there is no State Department warning or ban on personal travel to Egypt, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo released a public announcement earlier this month warning U.S. citizens “to avoid crowded tourist areas in Cairo until the current threat environment diminishes.”
The announcement, which is also posted on the State Department’s travel Web site, was still valid as of Thursday morning with a tentative expiration date of Aug. 3.
“Egypt historically has a volatile security situation and that needs to be examined closely before people decide to go there,” said Capt. Stephen Hoefel, Navy Region Europe’s public safety director.
The State Department announcement listed a number of recent attacks on or near tourist sites, including two April 30 attacks in Cairo near the Egyptian Museum and the Citadel where nine people were injured and three assailants killed.
The announcement states the Egyptian government believes that both attacks were linked to an April 7 bazaar bombing that killed four people, including one American.
In October 2004, attacks against three tourist sites in the Sinai, including one on a Western-owned hotel, killed 34 people.
— Jason Chudy
