Egypt sees 20 percent rise in tourists this year despite insecurity

(Reuters) - Egypt projects a rise of about 20 percent in tourist numbers this year, the tourism minister said on Wednesday, despite outbreaks of violence after last year's Arab Spring.

The uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak last February and political instability since then have stopped millions of potential visitors to Egypt's beach resorts and ancient sites.

Tourism accounted for more than a tenth of Egypt's gross domestic product before the 18-day revolt that was driven by widespread anger at poverty and high-levels of corruption. The country's large cities are still prey to unrest.

But Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou cited strong recent occupancy rates at hotels. About 8.8 million tourists visited Egypt in the first nine months of this year, he said at an industry event, and revenue was 6.9 billion.

"What I'm targeting is 11.5 million to 12 million tourists by the end of December. For sure over 11 million," Zaazou said. He said numbers should return to 2010 levels by the end of 2013 depending on the security situation.

Some 14.5 million tourists visited Egypt in 2010, generating around 12.5 billion Egyptian pounds ($2.05 billion) in revenue, whereas last year 9.8 million tourists brought in 8.8 billion pounds, according to government figures.

The government has a long-term plan to draw 30 million tourists by 2020, generating industry revenue of $25 billion.

Clashes in Cairo between liberal opponents of newly elected Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and his supporters following a demonstration injured more than 100 people last week. Another protest is planned on Friday.

In addition to security concerns, anxiety over the growing influence of Islamists following Mursi's election has fed tourism sector investors' fears over possible restrictions on alcohol sales and swimwear at popular resorts.

Zaazou said that while the government may introduce options for tourists wanting to adhere to Islamic sharia law, that would not change what Egypt offers tourists elsewhere.

"Our desire to introduce additional products that would suit certain Arab and Islamic market segments ... will not happen at the cost of our mainstream business," he said.

Zaazou said he would look into a possible tax break for investors in the tourism sector and present a study to the government. The study may propose tax breaks of up to 10 years for developers who build hotels within a specific period.

He said he was also looking into restoring air routes that closed when governments issued warnings on travel to Egypt.

($1 = 6.1050 Egyptian pounds)

(Reporting by Asma Alsharif; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Abu Simbel featured in the doodle of the day

 

The Google doodle today shows the moment that the sun shines on the faces of the statues, drawing the attention of the world to this intriguing phenomena and highlighting the treasures that Egypt has to offer to its visitors.

 

Twice a year, on 22 February and 22 October, the face of the statue of King Rameses II inside the temple in Abu Simbel is lit up by the sun and dates coincide with his date of birth and his coronation respectively.

 

The temple, located deep in Upper Egypt, was carved into rocks on the banks of the river Nile. After the completion of the Aswan dam the temple and its unique feature of solar alignment would have flooded as the waters were rising so an archeological rescue mission in the form of moving the complete temple to higher ground was performed.

 

Seeing the magical moment when the sun lights up the statues of Rameses II, Amun-Ra and Ra-Horakhty draws large groups of tourists to the temple twice per year. The fourth statue in the inner chamber depicts the god of the underworld, Ptah, and his face remains in darkness as the others light up.

 

The Google doodle today shows the moment that the sun shines on the faces of the statues, drawing the attention of the world to this intriguing phenomena and highlighting the treasures that Egypt has to offer to its visitors.

http://dailynewsegypt.com/2012/10/23/abu-simbel-featured-in-the-doodle-of-the-day/

Egypt: Thumbs Up Africa Blog Four - Supershops and Mini Temples

For many years, Luxor has been a must-see for every tourist in Egypt. If not for the temples of Luxor, Karnak or Deir el-Bahri, then you would definitely touch ground here for the breathtaking Valley of Kings. Twenty-four-year old Mido Noubi runs six souvenir shops in the old city market, also known as the Luxor souk. He points to the empty street outside.

"As you can see, business is not going well. I hope, inshallah, this will change."

Egypt's tourism sector has not benefited from the Arab Spring. "Before the revolution, I had 150 customers on a bad day, but now I have three customers on a good day," says Mido calmly. "People are afraid, because the media depict the wrong image of Egypt. There is no problem here and the Egyptian people are very friendly."

Mido sells shishas, scarves of different fabrics and miniature pyramids and pharaohs. The shop, where Mido invites me in for tea, opened in June 2010. That's an unfortunate date if you recall that the Egyptian revolution started only five months earlier

Tea talk

However, the souk shop owners find comfort in solidarity.

"Muslims and Copts sit together and drink tea to work something out," Mido explains. "But then again, what can you do when the big tourist agencies from Sharm el-Sheikh build their own souvenir supershops? In contrary to these agencies, we keep the prices low. The supershops work on commission."

As I'm being served another cup of tea, a young European couple walks in. They take a short look around and leave without saying a word. Most shop owners in the souk try to lure foreigners with small talk in every world language. Experience has taught Mido that it is better to leave the customers for who they are.

"People do not like to be hassled. I learned this not long after my cousins and I opened our first shop back in 2001," he says.

A part of Mido's income once came from domestic tourism. "Egyptians are afraid, as they read in the media that there is many problems on the railway because of the revolution," he says. "This, too, is not the case."

Fewer tourists, lots of girlfriends

According to Mido, the government should come up with a solution for the tourism sector. He is not happy with the instalment of Morsi as prime minister.

"Hosni Mubarak was a bad man, but at least he made sure that the people were safe," he says. "The police did their job, but now nobody respects them anymore. Freedom is good, but too much freedom cannot be good. Now I see that people sell a lot of drugs and even guns."

Despite these acts of crime, Mido feels sure that tourists are safe in Egypt. He turns to me: "Tell your friends that Egypt is safe. The media sell one big lie. Tell them they should not believe what is written and let your friends please come back here."

A man of around 40 enters the shop. It is Mido's uncle. Yesterday a relative got married and they tell me how good the party was. Mido himself does not think about marriage yet. "No business, no marriage. But I do have a lot of girlfriends," he laughs.

I ask if he wants me to share this blog with him on Facebook. He laughs again. "No, I don't like Facebook, because that started all of this."

http://allafrica.com/stories/201210220692.html?page=2