Tour operators, along with airlines and hoteliers, are currently discussing the possibility of paying compensation to travelers who bought package tours to Egypt, but have worries about making such trips at this time, the Association of Leaders of the Tourist Business of Ukraine (ALTU) has said in a press release.

The association has not yet consolidated information on the number of refusals.

The association reported, citing expert estimates, that about 10,000 Ukrainian tourists holidayed in Egypt as of August 15 and that 70% of them were to return to Ukraine this week.

ALTU said that according to the Egyptian partners of Ukrainian tour operators, the situation in resort areas and hotels in Egypt, where Ukrainian tourists stay, remains stable.

The press release noted that the tour operators, all members of the ALTU, are cooperating with the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and Egyptian tourism partners and are making every effort to minimize the impact of this situation on the vacationing of Ukrainians in Egypt.

Windrose (Kyiv), the airline that operates charter flights to Egypt, told Interfax-Ukraine that another worsening of the security situation in Egypt, as well as the introduction of a state of emergency, had had no effect on the number of passengers carried by the company. According to the company, the tourists who purchased package tours to Egypt are not giving up flying and all flights are performed in line with the planned number of travelers. The company said that it performs on average 11 flights to Egypt per week - five flights to Sharm el-Sheikh and six to Hurghada.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry earlier advised Ukrainian citizens to refrain from travelling to Egypt without urgent necessity due to the introduction of a state of emergency and the deteriorating security situation in the country, the ministry's information policy department reported on Wednesday.

Ukrainian citizens who are currently in Cairo were advised to avoid visiting the city's central Tahrir Square and the adjacent Garden City district, the area around the Presidential Palace (Heliopolis district), the Rabia Al-Adawiya Mosque (Nasr City district), and the district of Giza.

Ukrainian citizens who are currently vacationing in resort towns on the Red Sea (Hurghada and Sharm el Sheikh), in order to avoid security threats, were advised to remain in their hotels and not to travel outside them.

The Foreign Ministry also asked Ukrainians to refrain from visiting crowded sites, the sites of illegal photo and video coverage and not to participate in protests, demonstrations or other events aimed at destabilizing the situation in the country.

The situation in Egypt escalated on Wednesday after Egyptian police officers started dispersing demonstrators in Cairo who supported ousted President Mohammed Mursi and dismantling their camps.