Egypt: three years after the revolution, a state tourism sites
12:37:00
Timing is tragic: the same day (16 February 2014), a few minutes before the declaration of the governor, an attack caused the death of three South Korean tourists and an Egyptian in the Sinai region, near Taba. Nehad Rizk, director of the Egyptian Tourist Office in Paris, struggling to hide his despair: "This attack is really the last thing we needed. This is a very hard blow, which could ruin all our efforts to boost tourism in Egypt. »
Since the 2011 revolution, political instability in Egypt, punctuated by violence committed mainly in Cairo, no end to scare tourists. Until then, foreign visitors had never been targeted since the beginning of the Egyptian revolution that led to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak in February 2011 and to the dismissal of Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. This attack against a since of Asian tourists, which was claimed by a jihadist group, evokes memories of the massacres of Luxor in 1997 (58 tourists killed) and Sharm el-Sheikh in 2005 (more than 70 people, including many Westerners).
The tourism industry, including three million people live in Egypt, nearly 13% of the workforce is one of the main economic sectors of the country (11% of GDP) and the first activity that provides foreign exchange. Since the 2011 revolution, the revenues generated by this lucrative market formerly were divided by two. On the eve of the uprising in Egypt, $ 36 billion of foreign currency entered the boxes, against 17 billion in 2013. If 15 million tourists visited the kingdom of the Nile in 2010, on average they numbered 10 million on years.
The consequences of this tension is particularly visible around major historical sites and cities that fully live off tourism, as Luxor. Just walking the streets or explore ancient temples to realize it. Time seems suspended. Of the 350 cruise ships that, until 2011, were a constant ballet on the Nile, only thirty is still active. The Winter Palace, a luxury hotel especially enjoyed the French clientele, the occupancy rate barely above 40% in full school holidays.Boats docked on the banks of the Nile in Luxor, Egypt.
The Nile at Luxor, cruise ships and feluccas have more tourists to carry and lack of maintenance
At the heart of the temples of Karnak and Medinet Habu, where he had previously to elbow their way through the crowd, European tourists can be counted on the fingers of one hand. At the entrance of the tombs of the Valley of the Kings, is no longer in line for several hours to see the ancient paintings. Souvenir sellers stalls were closed curtain. On average, tourism in Luxor fell 70% in just two years. 10,000 tourists jostled each day in the city before the revolution; they are more than 2000 today.
Among them, Sophie *, a French tourist, does not understand this are: "The French can continue to be afraid and to listen to the media if they feel like it. Personally, I am very pleased to visit the Luxor area with so few tourists around. I do not feel at all threatened. "His girlfriend, Dominique *, adds:" The attack in Sinai's awful, but at the same time, everyone knows that this region is very dangerous and that we should not go there. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which ranked the Sinai in the red zone, strongly advises travelers to get there. Classified as amber box, the Nile Valley, Luxor to Abu Simbel via Aswan, may, depending on the Quai d'Orsay, to visit without high-risk, provided you do not get out of the cities.
Sell the tourist destination has become a headache for the country's authorities, who do not know how to convince travelers to overcome their fear and set foot on the territory of the ancient Pharaohs. First, the warnings issued by the Quai d'Orsay have a first brake on the travel industry in Egypt. On the other hand, the reluctance of the visitors added, depending, Nehad Rizk, the attitude of the French tourism professionals, reluctant to keep Egypt on the travel market: "For reasons of accountability and insurance, tour operators have stopped offering the destination for the French, "she says. A charge which defends, among others, New Frontiers, who no longer works in this destination. The tour operator says simply follow a directive from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which urges operators not to include Egypt in their catalogs. For its part, the Club Med, which has a holiday village in the Sinai region, remains open to tourists stressing that the safety of consumers within the establishment is ensured. Around the union operating companies (SETO) stated that "the tower operators SETO members are fully engaged in the recovery of destination Egypt, in close cooperation with the Egyptian tourism authorities and French travel agencies. »
On the political front, the tourist blackout knows that Egypt would be encouraged by Islamists: "The Muslim Brotherhood consider Western tourism as a bearer of immoral values, says the director of the Egyptian tourist office in France. They want a clean tourism according to their criteria; prohibition of alcohol, separation of men and women wearing the veil for the past ... "A creed against which strongly beats Hisham Zaazou, Minister of Tourism in Egypt since 2012. In an effort to boost tourism Egypt, the national airline Egyptair has, for its part, recently introduced a new direct flight between Paris and Luxor, and relaunched its direct connection between London and Luxor.
In addition, the development of a new constitution, and the approach of the presidential election to be held before the summer 2014, are a source of hope for many Egyptians. In times of trouble, a figure emerges from the political landscape: Sissi marshal. The head of the army in Egypt, which recently received the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin has not yet officially declared, but seems to have won the votes of the heart. Here and there in the streets of Luxor, portraits and graffiti extol him who organized the removal of Mohamed Morsi in 2013. For the moment, no other candidate seems to be an alternative weight to the accession to power of Marshal . She would Sissi election seen by the West as a positive step in the reconstruction of Egypt? Marie-Christine Gerber, Honorary Vice Consul of France in Luxor, laconically replied: "We all want one thing: security."
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