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German newspaper: 'recession is affecting tourism in Luxor and Aswan'

March 14, 2018 at 12:25 am

German newspaper Die Welt has said that the Egypt’s recession has affected tourism in the cities of Luxor and Aswan.

“The January revolution and the terrorist attacks that hit Egypt have affected Egyptian tourism in previous years, despite the Egyptian State’s attempts to revive it,” the newspaper said.

The newspaper went on saying: “Cultural tourism is still severely affected. However, recreational tourism on the Red Sea coasts is significantly recovering.”

Die Welt pointed out that tourists’ turnout to visit monuments related to Egypt’s cultural heritage has become limited. Most of the Pharaonic temples and museums have become almost empty of tourists, according to the report.

Abydos, one of the most important monuments of the Pharaonic civilization in Luxor, and the cultural centre of the Pharaonic god Osiris, has become empty of tourists, despite the strict security measures at both the interior and exterior entrances of the temple.

An employee of the ancient pharaoh temple told Die Welt that there are almost no tourists due to the revolution and other political changes.

Die Welt quoted the Egyptian ambassador to Berlin, Badr Abdel Ati, as saying that Egyptian security is stable at the current stage.

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Abdel Ati explained this, saying: “The Egyptian army was able to inflict an overwhelming defeat on terrorism in Sinai.”

He continued “The killing of more than 300 terrorists in Sinai is a clear sign of the terrorism’s weakness in Egypt, as they have very little chances to carry out further attacks.”

In figures, German newspaper Die Welt explained that in 2017, about 8.3 million tourists, including 1.1 million German tourists, had come to Egypt, a remarkable progress, according to the report, in comparison to 2016, when only 5.4 million tourists had visited Egypt.

According to the report, the most attractive resorts to tourists are Hurghada, Marsa Alam, and Sharm El Sheikh.

However, the rest of the tourist attractions throughout the country have not witnessed a touristic recovery, especially cultural landmarks and cultural tourism that are highly affected.

In 2010, 14.7 million tourists visited Egypt, a large proportion of whom had visited Luxor and Aswan.

Mohammed Fayed, owner of Perfume Palace shop near the pyramids of Giza, said sales have decreased. He added that hotels have become empty of tourists, and employees had either lost their jobs or accepted to get low salaries.

Die Welt quoted a tourist guide as saying that most of the current tourists are from China and Japan.

Mustafa Zidane, an Egyptian lawyer who lost his job after the revolution and is now working in a bazaar, stated that he often had to sell the goods at the purchase price, fearing of recession, and added that he earns less than 100 euros a month, which is not enough to live in light of the current high prices and the floating of the Egyptian pound.

Ehab Subhi, director of a tourist company in Hurghada, said: “Everyone here is dreaming of the return of the pre-revolutionary golden era of tourism, where hotels were full of tourists.”

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Moscow Domodedovo Airport has set on the Air Traffic schedule that flights between Moscow and Cairo would start from March 18. According to data on the airport’s website, there will be three flights between the two capitals a week, according to the Russian news agency Sputnik.

Sputnik quoted a well-informed source saying that Egypt has agreed to the permanent presence of Russian security experts at Cairo airport to secure flights from Cairo to Russia. The source explained that “Egypt had agreed on the presence of Russian security experts at Cairo airport to secure flights to Moscow.” He continued: “The two countries have agreed on the presence of a Russian security company to secure Russian flights from Cairo airport.”

The newspaper justified the Russian tourists’ non-return to Egypt during the past periods, despite Cairo’s intensive attempts to get them back to the country, to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s concerns over renewed terrorist attacks.

Moscow has decided to suspend flights to Egypt following the shooting down of an airplane belonging to the Russian company Metrojet on Sinai Peninsula minutes after taking off from Sharm El Sheikh Airport, killing 224 travellers.

The newspaper continued: “The drastic consequences of the terrorists’ shooting down of the Russian airplane in 2015 are still affecting the Egyptian tourism to date.”