It's too soon for lift travel ban to Egypt

Just a few days after the Canadian government lifted its travel advisory to parts of Egypt – Luxor to be exact – demonstrators were back in the streets of Cairo today clashing with police.

Anyone travelling to Egypt has to land in Cairo and the situation there remains too volatile. I know the Canadian and American governments are trying to curry favor with the new Egyptian government but aren’t we jumping the gun too quickly here. As long as Cairo remains off limits, then Egypt has to remain off limits to Canadians.

It’s a shame – Egypt is my favorite country in the Middle East to visit and I know for a fact that several Canadian tour companies are chomping at the bit to send people back to that amazing storehouse of history.

But let’s be sensible here. It’s still early days in the Egyptian uprising and people should not be put at risk.

Time to rest up before my next trip

I’m back home in Toronto after a whirlwind visit to Beijing and Hong Kong and now I’ll rest up for a few weeks before heading off to Dallas on assignment for TraveLife magazine in mid April.

But I'll be doing daily blogs keeping you up to date on what’s happening in the travel world.

By the way, China continues to amaze. There’s no hotter travel destination on the planet right now and the Chinese capital never disappoints.

However, visiting that amazing city can be exhausting. The traffic chaos, noise and sea of people wear me down after a while. But each time I leave, I can’t wait to go back.

Ditto for Hong Kong – and pretty much the rest of Asia.

Asia’s turn has finally come as a preferred travel destination and the glut of new hotels and resorts being built there compliment the record number of flights now being offered to that area of the world out of North America and Europe. All this will only hasten Asia’s rise to the top of the tourism chart over the next few years.

Asia offers great value, great sights and great hospitality – and it’s only going to get better.

Good for you Asia!