MR. TED COOKSON
MANAGER - MAADI

Ted Cookson is an American expatriate from Coos Bay, Oregon who has been employed as a travel agent in Egypt since 1986. Since 1988 he has managed the Maadi Branch of Egypt Panorama Tours; and he was the first American to be employed legally as a travel agent in Egypt.

Prior to the advent of his travel career in Egypt, Ted worked as a banker for 7 years with Chemical Bank in New York and with the largest commercial bank in Saudi Arabia.

He holds a B. A. from Harvard College, Cambridge, MA ('73), an Arabic certificate from the Center for Arabic Study Abroad at The American University in Cairo, Egypt ('74), an M. A. from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, England ('75), and an M. B. A. from the University of Chicago ('78).

Ted's profession/hobby is travel, and he lives and breathes it. In fact, Ted may be the only person you know who has traveled to every country in the world!

As of March 2009 Ted had traveled to 310 of the 319 countries and destinations on the official list of the Travelers' Century Club ("TCC") of Los Angeles.  For example:

1) He has visited every country/TCC destination in Europe (67).

2) Ted has visited every country/TCC destination in Africa (53) except Cabinda.

3) He has visited every country/TCC destination in Asia (50) except Abkhazia.

4) He has visited every country/TCC destination in the Pacific Ocean (39) except Wake Island.

5) He has visited every country/TCC destination in the Caribbean Sea (30) except Netherlands Leeward Islands & St. Barts.

6) He has visited every country/TCC destination in the Near and Middle East (20).

7) He has visited every country/TCC destination in the Indian Ocean (14).

8) He has visited every country/TCC destination  in South America (13).

9) He has visited every country/TCC destination in the Atlantic Ocean (13).

10) He has visited every country/TCC destination in Central America (7).

11) He has visited every country/TCC destination in North America (6).

12) He has visited every TCC destination in Antarctica (7) except for the Antarctic territories of France, Australia, New Zealand and Norway.  (Of the 7 destinations, 6 converge at the South Pole.  The seventh destination, Norway's Antarctic territorial claim, does not extend all the way to the South Pole.)
 

Since 1986 Ted has parlayed his own passion for travel into the development of an extensive and loyal travel clientele among Cairo's 10,000-strong American expatriate community.  And it's easy to see why.

The depth of travel information and travel resources which Ted has assembled under one roof in the Maadi branch of Egypt Panorama Tours is unparalleled in Egypt and probably in the entire Middle East.

Because of his own extensive personal travels, Ted is more often than not able to offer advice to clients based on an intimate knowledge of any given destination.

In addition, he maintains for public use at Egypt Panorama Tours' Maadi Branch two unique facilities:

(1) the largest free travel guidebook library in Egypt, with over 1,300 volumes, and

(2) the only travel video/multimedia rental facility in Egypt, with over 175 videos and CD-ROM's available covering travel on seven continents.

Both the guidebook and video/multimedia libraries are especially strong on Europe, Africa and Asia.

Egypt Panorama Tours operates Egypt's largest African Safari Center.  Individual and group tours and safaris can be arranged at any time upon request.

Aside from his overseas travel, Ted has traveled widely throughout Egypt in order to be able to provide useful travel information to incoming clients from abroad. In addition to exploring new desert routes, hotel inspection trips to popular tourist destination are also scheduled from time to time.

Ted is such a travel fanatic that even his significant other - Barbara Stein of Post Haste Travel in Hollywood, FL - is a travel agent. While Barbara has "only" visited some 240 Travelers' Century Club destinations, Ted likes to say that Barbara is the only travel agent he knows who is smarter about travel than he is!

16 March 2009

Immediately below Ted is shown at his desk at Egypt Panorama Tours. Far below Ted is pictured holding a furry friend he met in Brisbane in August 2001.