CAIRO: Despite ongoing efforts by Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi and the ministry of tourism to change the perception of Egypt as a turbulent and violent country, ongoing protests nearly every month have left tourists looking elsewhere for their holiday adventures. According to a recent Associated Press report, a cruise ship canceled a docking in Egypt after anti-American protests earlier this month left safety and security questionable for the travelers. Another setback for a country that before the January 2011 uprising ousted their dictator Hosni Mubarak relied on tourism income as a major source of the economy. Despite the negatives of recent months, the government continues to move forward on its efforts to reassure foreigners that Egypt is a place to visit, its beaches and resort life a high-end destination and mid-level prices. Earlier this month, the country's tourism minister attempted to once again allay fears that the country would crackdown on bikinis or beachgoers in the country, saying any Islamic investments in the sector would “complement" and not overtake tourism directives. Resorts are to remain in the country and women will be forced to cover, Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou said. He is pushing tourism in an attempt to help the country's economy recover from months of inactivity. Tourism had accounted for some 10 percent of the country's economy before the January 2011 uprising ousted former President Hosni Mubarak and saw travelers look elsewhere as violence and political turmoil took hold of Egypt. “It will not be changed. Nothing will affect beach tourism. We are building on, increasing even, the capacities and the services rendered for our clients coming to our beaches," he told Reuters news agency. The Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) told Bikyamasr.com in a statement in June that they “hope to build a new united Egypt" and have “no plans to affect the current situation" when it comes to tourism. Still, worries abound, among both Egyptians and foreigners, over what the future for Egypt will bring. Earlier this year, the FJP, after winning nearly 45 percent of the now possibly dissolved parliament, said that tourists would have the freedom to wear whatever they chose, including bikinis, and that they would have ban alcohol or other foodstuffs. “The party regrets the decline in tourism and other economic activities as one of the repercussions of the January 25 revolution," said Ahmed Suleiman, Chairman of the Tourism Committee of the party, during a meeting organized by the Business Association and attended by representatives of the FJP and foreign tour operators, in January. He pointed out that the party would contribute to the redoubling of “the rates of tourism in the coming period," and that the situation of tourism and its present conditions “would remain the same as before the revolution and this sector will not be subjected to any changes as long as the FJP is represented in the parliament." Suleiman stressed the need to reactivate beach tourism as it is one of the “most popular aspects of tourism in Egypt." He said the FJP is already speculating tourism numbers, “taking a number of measures including the establishment of a series of museums along the Nile Valley to boost the cultural tourism traffic." He pointed out that monuments and statues currently in stores will be taken out and displayed in the order of dynasties, in each governorate of origin, respectively. He explained that the party`s vision is to make good use of nature reserves, medical and therapeutic tourism and conferences. At the same meeting, Ahmed el-Imam, a member of the “tourism boosting committee" of the FJP said the government, without mentioning the military junta by name, “is one of the main reasons afflicting tourism internally, and while Egypt has about 33 percent of the monuments of the world, the state is incapable of utilizing them in an optimum way," saying that the party aims at bringing 25 million tourists annually in the upcoming years.
