TravelMole Interview: Klaus Billep, president, Universal Travel Systems

Universal Travel Systems is among luxury tour operators going back to Libya, a country president Klaus Billep terms “a wonderful and safe destination.” The Santa Monica, CA-based company stopped going to Libya 23 years ago, but the lifting of the US travel ban has created interest among more operators, according to Mr Billep. “Europeans have been going there for years because they’re no embargo for them. Interested Americans may be those who are looking for something unknown or unusual or some adventure, in a luxury setting,” he said. Attractions in Libya include UNESCO World Heritage sites, ancient Roman cities and Phoencian trading posts that go back to the second and third centuries, A.D. Travcoa is another American country that used to offer tours to Libya and is starting new luxury offerings to that country. The company plans a regular series of programs next fall after the hot summer. “I think there are a number of tour operators who are planning to include Libya in their North African itinerary,” said Mr Billep. “The perfect tours, which we plan on doing at some point, would be to combine maybe Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, Libya and Algeria,” he said. He added all those countries are safe destinations. “Even Algeria, which had some domestic problems, is safe. We took two tours there, and there were no problems at all. Our group was amazed how friendly the people were,” he said. Report by David Wilkening