Where do you Sphinx they've all gone?

Tourists deserting Egyptian pyramids show what a difference a year makes for troubled region

By RICK DEWSBURY

It's one of the greatest tourist attractions on earth.
Fantastic shades of multi-colour illuminate the awesome pyramids dominating the Egyptian night sky to the delight of tourists.
Yet this awe-inspiring spectacle remains virtually deserted every night as holidaymakers shun the 'jewel of the Middle East'.
Sombre pictures taken this week show the rows of empty seats at the Light and Sound Show, below the historic pyramids in Cairo.

Only a handful of sightseers and a few despondent tour guides can be seen at the iconic landmark, which includes the Great Sphinx.
Only a year earlier the show had been fully-booked every night. Dozens of tourists cooed as they watched the landmarks change to shades of purple, green, red and blue among others. Vast beams of light were shot into the air by high-tech lasers.
Egypt had been on the verge of its own economic revolution, with booming tourism and impressive developments of apartments, offices and flats around the country.
But this revolution went no further. In its place were the scenes of violence and mass protest in Tahrir Square in February which became known as the 'Arab Spring'.

Nine months later and a new country has been born. But as the empty seats at Cairo show, tourism today is a shadow of what it once was.
Holidaymakers have shunned the troubled region for fear of being caught up in the terrifying scenes sweeping North Africa. Travel agents unwilling to risk sending tourists to a potential war-zone have pulled out of region.
And their cautiousness has been proven right, as recent violent demonstrations against military rule have shown.
At least 40 people have been killed in fierce clashes in the past week alone as protesters have demanded the resignation of the army commanders. Egypt’s military ruler warned of ‘extremely grave’ consequences if the turbulent nation did not pull through its current crisis.
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi said: ‘We will not allow troublemakers to meddle in the elections. Egypt is at a crossroads – either we succeed politically, economically and socially or the consequences will be extremely grave and we will not allow that.
'None of this would have happened if there were no foreign hands. We will not allow a small minority of people who don’t understand to harm Egypt’s stability.’
Protesters, who have once again camped out in Tahrir Square, said that they had come under fire from a police sniper.
The violence has proved how fragile the region is. Even after elections in the coming weeks, Islamic parties are expected to take control.
The elections are likely to be dominated by the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood. Analysts think they could win roughly a third of votes, likely to be far greater than the hundreds of small parties who will each get only a fraction of the vote.
The tourism industry has also so far been one of the main losers since violence began in the country, which saw the former president Hosni Mubarak ousted.
It is estimated that the unrest has cost the Egyptian economy some $310million a day, or at least $30 billion over the course of the year.

One of the indirect victims has been travel agents Thomas Cook. The firm saw a 70 per cent fall in its share price this week.

The group has suffered from the impact of the 'Arab spring', which has hit bookings to Tunisia and Egypt, destinations popular with France and Russia respectively, as well as UK holidaymakers.
Despite the drop in visitor numbers, the country's tourism board is trying to lure back holidaymakers with a string of advertising campaigns.
Egypt's promotional push portrays the region's potential as a safe and attractive holiday destinations.
‘Welcome to the country of peaceful revolution’ is the slogan that Egypt has settled on.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2067329/Egypt-protests-Tourists-deserting-pyramids-difference-year-makes-troubled-region.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

British tourists flocking to Egypt: Report

www.egypt.travel

London: While those from many western countries stay away, British tourists are reportedly flocking to Egypt despite the resurgence of civil unrest in which at least 14 protesters were shot dead by police in Cairo. 

Flights are still almost full as British holidaymakers take advantage of cheaper deals in Red Sea resorts such as Sharm el Sheikh in the wake of the civil unrest in places like Cairo, the 'Sunday Express' quoted tourism chiefs as saying. 

Egyptian authorities have announced incentives for charter operators in a bid to thwart the tourism crisis that has followed January's revolution, jeopardising an industry worth 11 per cent of the country's output. 

The Foreign Office has not warned against travel to Egypt but urges Britons to avoid Cairo where tension is mounting. 

"The situation is volatile and changing rapidly. There is a high risk of indiscriminate attacks on public places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers," a Foreign Office spokesman was quoted as saying. 

Yet resort destinations such as Sharm el Sheikh and Hurghada, 300 miles away, are unaffected. 

Neil Garner, of the Monarch Travel Group, said: "Our figures for November show that Britons are still flocking to the Red Sea, though Europeans and Russians seem to be staying away. Flights to Sharm have been 97 per cent full." 

Khaled Rami, director of the Egyptian Tourist Office for the UK and Ireland, said most of the country was safe, adding: "If you look at Tahrir Square you would think all of Egypt is burning, but only in the way that anybody outside of the UK who saw footage of the August riots would think all the UK was burning."

http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/british-tourists-flocking-to-egypt-report_744110.html

Nile Cruise Holidays in Egypt- Why choose a cruise on the Nile?

Marianna De Padova - 22/11/2011 On the banks of the sacred river to the discovery of ancient Egyptian temples with breathtaking views and scenes of everyday life.
http://www.turismo.it/reportage/viaggi-in-medio-oriente/nilo-crociera-vacanze-in-egitto

Quiet and calm,  from south to north, while on its banks, life goes slow, between the mud-brick huts and punctuated by the voice of the muezzin. The green palm trees and crops is tinged with gold at sunset when the sun goes behind the palm trees and children playing football on the banks of the river, while a silent parade in the evening Egyptian felucca, full of perfumes who already East. Colors, sounds, and possible suggestions on a comfortable ship, which follows the course from Aswan to Luxor and the great river: theNile cruise , which retains all the charm of old british. In fact it is de rigueur at sunset tea with cookies, to be enjoyed on the terrace deck of the ship. And 'the Nile, the protagonist of this journey that gently leads the visitor to discover the ancient glories, when the river was one of the most revered god important. So today the Nile temples framed illuminated cold morning light, golden light of dusk, or vibrating (ahead of our times), after a meal eaten comfortably on the moving ship. The sweet sailing accompanies visitors to the site ofPhilae , which is also moved to prevent the waters of the dam, but that is inserted into a landscape of granite, which makes it look like Egypt at the corner of Sardinia. The most imposing walls of the temple Kom Ombo welcome after a few hours of browsing other: here the colors of the paintings still vibrate in the warm light of sunset and enveloping, where hieroglyphic columns and large, seem to have been made ​​recently. But incredibly, the majesty of the temples seem to grow as the great river rises to Luxor , ancient Thebes and the bright, the temple of Edfu , with its side chambers, from which stairs rise mysterious, wonderful charm of the surrounds. But it is the temple of Karnak , Luxor, the constructive power of the ancient Egyptians seem to make a pair with the italic Colosseum: up to 24 meters high walls, with a thickness of 12, which were well forward of the sovereign power that wanted: Ramses II. A power in the great central colonnade is perhaps its highest expression. But Luxor is not only the city hosts its temples and elegant: beyond the western shore of the great Nile, the impressive Valley of the Kings tombs retains its large, while the great Colossi of Memnon seems to act as guardians to the rest of the secular nobles. Solitary and camouflaged in the rocks, the spectacular tomb of Queen Hatshepsut, built by its architect and first director Senemut, and perhaps also her lover, who made ​​this tomb the concrete testimony of the greatness of this woman, in a civilization that was able to establish itself in the masculine as queen. Millennia after the great Nile, offering visitors also continues to give away his wealth to the land, elsewhere it is deserted.Nile Cruise: look at the PHOTO All Cruises Tourist Information www.egypt.travelMS MayFair: www.mayfaircruises.com