Egypt postpones curfew on shops, cafes

(AP) / 2 November 2012

The Egyptian government decided to postpone by one week the imposition of a curfew on shops and restaurants that had been intended to save energy and bring order to the street but sparked a broad backlash.

The 10 p.m. curfew, which had been due to start on Saturday, is compulsory for all shops, while restaurants and cafes are to close at midnight. Few businesses, such as those with a tourism license and pharmacies, are exempted from the new regulations.

The postponement appeared to be driven by pressure from chambers of commerce and the public, who say the plan causes more harm than good and its implementation is unclear.

Municipal Development Minister Ahmed Zaki Abdeen told private TV network Al-Hayat late Thursday that the new rules will come into effect next week, when “executive regulations” are ready.

The government has made no official announcement regarding the postponement.

On Friday, state-run Al-Ahram daily described Abdeen’s comments as a reflection of “confusion” in the government as it deals with pressure from business groups and merchants.

The paper quoted Ahmed al-Wakeel, head of the Union of Chambers of Commerce, as saying that his group has suggested extending the curfew to 11:00 p.m. for big cities and tourist sites such as Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor and resort areas like Sharm el-Sheikh.

Egypt’s Prime Minister Hesham Kandil is to meet with representatives from the chambers to look into their suggestions, the paper added.

The government has said that the early closure would save nearly 3 billion Egyptian pounds annually by conserving electricity, as the nation struggles with an economic crisis and fuel shortages. It also says the move will ease traffic congestion, which in turn would make it easier for municipalities to clean the streets, make renovations, and bring order.

However the chambers argue that the plan would lead to higher unemployment as millions of Egyptians work at night.

Critics also believe that it will be virtually impossible to enforce the new regulations in Cairo, home to an estimated 18 million, given the absence of strong law enforcement since last year’s uprising.

@http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2012/November/middleeast_November33.xml&section=middleeast 

Egyptian Minister of Tourism to speak at IIPT panel discussion at WTM

STOWE, Vermont – The International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) is proud to announce that HE Mohamed Hisham Abbas Zaazou, Minister of Tourism, Egypt, will be a featured speaker at this year’s IIPT event at World Travel Market in a panel discussion on:

Building Bridges of Collaboration for Sustainable Tourism Development in the Mediterranean Region.

Other featured speakers will include: UNWTO Secretary General Dr. Taleb Rifai; HE Nayef Al-Fayez, Jordan Minister of Tourism and Antiquities; and Mr. Elhamy ElZayat, Chairman and CEO, EMECO Travel, Egypt. The panel will be moderated by HE Akel Biltaji, Special Advisor to HM King Abdullah II and Ambassador at Large for IIPT.

The Mediterranean region is the world’s most-visited destination. UNWTO projections are that it will be adding 10 million more international arrivals a year for a total of 500 million by 2030. The region is currently challenged with economic downturns in source markets, political transitions of the Arab Spring in Northern Africa, preserving natural and cultural heritage, and the impacts of climate change.

The session will explore opportunities for collaborative strategies to achieve sustainable tourism development in support of the UN Millennium Development Goals; attracting visitors from new and emerging markets; and nurturing tourism, culture, the arts, and sport in promoting a “Culture of Peace” throughout the region.

TIME AND PLACE

The session will be held at the ExCel Center, Tuesday, November 6, from 1530 to 1630 hours in South Gallery Room 20.

ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR PEACE THROUGH TOURISM

IIPT is dedicated to fostering and facilitating tourism initiatives which contribute to international understanding and cooperation; an improved quality of environment; the preservation of heritage, poverty reduction, and the resolution of conflict - and through these initiatives, help bring about a more peaceful and sustainable world. IIPT is dedicated to mobilizing travel and tourism, the world’s largest industry, as the world’s first “Global Peace Industry,” an industry that promotes and supports the belief that “Every traveler is potentially an Ambassador for Peace.”

@ http://www.eturbonews.com/31991/egyptian-minister-tourism-speak-iipt-panel-discussion-wtm

Egypt to auction land for tourist developments: minister

(Reuters) - Egypt will auction sites covering 28 million square meters of land for tourist developments in the next 14 months to expand the vital industry, its tourism minister said.

Hisham Zaazou is tasked with reviving a sector that accounted for 10 percent of economic activity before the revolt that ousted President Hosni Mubarak last year drove away investors and tourists.

Tourists are returning to Egypt but do not yet match the levels of 2010, before the uprising, when 14.5 million people visited, earning the country $12.5 billion.

Speaking late on Tuesday, Zaazou told Reuters that Egypt could match those levels in 2013. By 2020 the country targets an ambitious 30 million tourists, prompting the government's plans for selling new plots.

"I will start auctioning (the land) maybe next month and before the end of 2013 all of the 28 million sq metres will have been put on offer," Zaazou said, adding that the offer has already been met with interest from European and Gulf investors.

Some of the sites to be auctioned would be sold, others would be for lease.

Sites due to come up for auction will include Red Sea resorts such as Ain Sokhna and Marsa Allam.

"Investors will be putting their money in areas that already have customers, not in a barren desert," said Zaazou, who was appointed in August. He worked with private tourism firms, including in the United States, before moving to the ministry.

Zaazou said he was studying incentive programmes to lure investors, including a plan for the state to pay social security payments for employees of firms investing within a set period.

He also said he was working with the civil aviation and transport ministries to improve access to tourist areas, including plans to improve the quality of overnight trains from Cairo to popular destinations of Luxor and Aswsan in the south.

WESTERN TOURISTS WELCOME

Zaazou said Turkish Airlines had launched direct flights from Istanbul to Red Sea resorts such as Sharm el-Sheikh, helping to lure more Turkish and European visitors, and said he wanted to improve connections to the Far East and South America.

Echoing earlier comments, he said Egypt - now governed by an Islamist president - wanted to draw in tourists holding conservative Islamic values but not at the expense of others from the West or elsewhere, who might be discouraged by any move to ban alcohol or impose other Islamic restrictions.

He said drawing in Islamic-minded tourists "will not detract from mainstream tourism nor will it be an alternative to it."

"I wish that people can co-exist ... like in Turkey and in Dubai," he said.

As an example, he said some Arab investors were building a five-star hotel in Cairo that would not allow alcohol, smoking, loud music or gender-mixed swimming pools. It would also focus on spa and health services to cater to customers who want an Islamic tourism package or others seeking a health resort.

The biggest present challenge to tourism, he said, was local and international media conveying what he said was an exaggerated image of lax security. Pictures of protests and sometimes violence in Cairo's Tahrir Square have deterred some.

"The image that is being conveyed about Egypt is an image confined to 1 square kilometre of the country, so to speak, namely Tahrir square," Zaazou said. "This is a challenge."

"When tourism to Cairo is affected, this in turn affects the rest of cultural tourism such as Luxor and Aswan," he said, adding that if protests till year-end remained peaceful in the square, this would revive tourists' confidence in Egypt.

@http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/31/us-egypt-tourism-idUSBRE89U15J20121031