Skift Take

25 Moments that Mattered in 2015: To make our selection of 25 moments, we thought back to the stories that drove reader engagement and sparked discussion among both travel experts and the general public. Some stories were quick blips that represented bigger things while others were narratives that built slowly through out the year. Each one, though, spoke to where we are right now when it comes to the big business of global travel.

In late October a Russian aircraft carrying 224 people crashed in a remote mountainous region in the Sinai Peninsula about 20 minutes after taking off from a Red Sea resort popular with Russian tourists.

Russians had emerged as the dominant group along Egypt’s Red Sea beaches, but they’re now turning away for other markets that could be safer (like Israel).

There were no survivors, and in response Air France and Lufthansa said they’ll avoid flying over the Sinai Peninsula, and the British government suspended all flights to and from the area. Investigators have since deemed the crash as a terrorist act and concluded that a homemade explosive device was used to down the plane. It’s another challenge to Egypt’s inept and corrupt government and a blow to the mass of Egyptians that base their livelihoods on a shrinking tourism sector.

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Tags: 25 moments 2015, egypt, russia outbound, unrest

Photo credit: Relatives of the victims of a Russian airliner with 217 passengers and seven crew aboard has crashed, react as they gather at Pulkovo airport in St.Petersburg, Russia. 160634 / 160634

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