UK tour operators selling holidays to Sharm despite gov’t warning: UK tour operators have apparently been selling holiday packages to Sharm El Sheikh, ignoring the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s warning against travel to the destination, the Sun reports. Thomas Cook and Thomson have now started accepting bookings for the autumn season, despite the fact the trips may not go ahead if the warnings remain in place. Sun reporters found that some booking agencies have barely been mentioning the warning. The UK government, including Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, has been offering us nothing but platitudes on lifting the warning, despite declarations that the country is safe. Once again, the private sector moves faster than government.

In other tourism news: The House of Representatives will not support raising the price of tourist visas to USD 60 from USDU 25, citing the harm it could cause the still-slumping industry, MPs tell Al Borsa. The House Tourism and Aviation Committee will be hosting the ministers of tourism and foreign affairs today to discuss the proposal, which met with criticism from the international community at the ITB Berlin travel trade show last week. The Ismail cabinet is preparing a study to reassess the impact of a visa fee hike on tourist inflows, Tourism Minister Yahya Rashed said at a press conference, according to Al Mal, adding that he plans to discuss the matter further with the cabinet soon. We rarely applaud our nation’s parliamentarians, but they’re doing the right thing in this case.