‘The situation in Luxor and Aswan is catastrophic with 283 floating hotels having stopped operating due to the weak tourist flow' — Elhami Al-Zayat Of all the sectors of Egypt's economy, tourism has had the toughest time since the two revolutions that toppled former presidents Hosni Mubarak and Mohamed Morsi. The political unrest that has swept the country since 2011, causing violence in various parts of the country, has had devastating effects on Egypt's major foreign currency earner, Al-Ahram reporting last month that the sector had lost some $60 billion over the past three years as a result of the political unrest and violence. However, the bloody clashes that erupted after the dispersal of the two sit-ins supporting Morsi at the Rabaa Al-Adaweya Mosque and in Al-Nahda Square in Cairo on 14 August took the sector's losses to new heights. With the foreign media calling Morsi's toppling a “military coup” and reporting the violent scenes that erupted after the crackdown on his supporters' sit-ins, many countries warned their nationals against travelling to Egypt. The undermined the 10 per cent increase in the sector's revenues during the first half of the year, driving it down to new lows. In September, the German Foreign Ministry issued a travel warning to its citizens from going to Egyptian cities, including the Red Sea resorts for the first time. Europe's largest tour operator, TUI Germany, along with Thomas Cook Germany, cancelled all trips to Egypt until mid-September. Russia, the biggest market exporting tourism to Egypt, also issued similar warnings, with the Association of Russian Tour Operators (ARTO) announcing the cancellation of travel to Egypt after the Russian Ministry of Tourism had warned of what it called increased violence in the country. The British foreign office also advised UK nationals against all but essential travel to Egypt, with the exception of the Red Sea resorts of Sharm El-Sheikh, Taba, Nuweiba and Dahab. The US warned American citizens against travelling to Egypt and urged its nationals who were in the country to leave. Minister of Tourism Hisham Zazou said the impact of these travel bans had been devastating for the sector. According to the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS), the number of tourist arrivals to Egypt in August decreased by 45.6 per cent, totalling 564,517. This came after figures had declined by 24.5 per cent in July, year-on-year, reaching 765,000. The sector, which weathered the 2008 financial crisis and recorded $12.5 billion in revenues in 2010, contributing 11 per cent to the country's GDP with almost 15 million tourists, failed to survive the political turmoil of the post-25 January Revolution. Its contribution to the country's foreign reserves dropped significantly in 2011, generating revenues of $8.7 billion. In 2012, tourism picked up again and about 11.5 million tourists visited the country, creating some $10 billion in revenues, all of which was reversed in 2013. Elhami Al-Zayat, head of the Egyptian Tourism Federation, told Al-Ahram Weekly that tourist arrivals had declined by 90 per cent in September compared to the same period in 2012, “which wasn't even a very good year for tourism.” Al-Zayat stated that while occupancy rates in the Red Sea resorts of Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh had declined by 60 and 70 per cent, respectively, 85 per cent of hotel capacity in Marsa Alam and Taba was unused and the percentage had reached 90 per cent at the historic sites of Luxor and Aswan, where the situation was “catastrophic”. He said that some 283 floating hotels and cruise boats had nearly stopped operating due to the extremely weak tourist flow, and that the 42,000 beds in the two cities' floating and fixed hotels were now only hosting some 200 to 300 tourists per day. At Marsa Alam, 790km south of Cairo, hotels were suffering from a shortage of diesel fuel, crippling their activities, he said. Haitham Nassar, a board member of the Egyptian Hotels Association, a non-profit organisation representing 1,245 member hotels in Egypt, said that the violence that had erupted in the country from August onwards had been “the last straw” for Egyptian hotels, which were now having to shoulder billions of dollars in lost revenues in spite of their cutting rates by 40 per cent in a bid to attract tourists. The three-month curfew that was imposed in August from 7pm to 6am in 14 governorates had had a further negative impact on the flow of Arab tourists “who had come to Egypt to enjoy its nightlife,” Nassar told the Weekly. Things started to get better in October and November, with 18 countries easing their travel warnings including Russia, Germany, Italy, Cyprus, Ireland, Austria, Bulgaria, Sweden, Lithuania and Switzerland. As a result, tourist flows from Europe increased by 20 per cent, Zazou said last month. The minister said that tourism yields were expected to range from $7 to $8 billion by the end of 2013, of which $5 billion had been garnered from the beginning of the year until June. The poor figures in 2013 make it the worst year on record for the country's tourism sector. “Even during tough events such as the 1967 defeat, tourist flows stopped for one month then continued shortly afterwards,” Al-Zayat said. In addition to the mounting violence the country has seen in the second half of the year, 2013 already did not bode well for the tourism industry. The start of the year also saw a setback for tourism following the wave of violence which followed the second anniversary of the 25 January Revolution. This anniversary came a day before the controversial court verdict against those who had been accused of killing 74 Ahli soccer fans in Port Said in early 2012. The ruling, which saw the Port Said Criminal Court sentence 21 people to death, triggered a wave of clashes in Port Said, Suez, Ismailia, Cairo, and a number of other areas. Occupancy rates in hotels located in downtown Cairo, where clashes have erupted, have hit a record low. The Intercontinental Semiramis, one of Cairo's oldest and most expensive hotels, cancelled all bookings and halted future reservations after angry protesters stormed the hotel's lobby. Cairo has been the most affected area from the waves of violence after it became a venue for clashes. Al-Zayat said that it was likely to take the capital sometime before it could once again receive tourists. He said that the Pyramids at Giza, one of Egypt's greatest tourist attractions, were now craving tourists, with turnouts at the Pyramids sound and light show declining by 90 per cent. Aside from the financial losses, the fall in tourism has had a domino effect on other sectors, with lost revenues being translated into massive layoffs. “Forty per cent of those working in the sector have lost their jobs since the 25 January Revolution,” one industry figure said. Four-thousand tour guides from 17,000 have left the sector, imposing more challenges on the ailing industry. The slowdown in tourism has also affected travel agencies, tourist transportation and aviation. Regular aviation has slumped by one million passengers per year, Al-Zayat said, representing the loss of 18,600 travellers per week compared to 2010 levels. In a bid to boost tourism, Zazou said recently that the ministry would be putting an immediate plan into effect that would see the ministry and the Egyptian Tourism Authority cooperating with travel agents and using the Internet and social-networking services to promote Egyptian tourist hubs. The ministry would also be launching a campaign, called “Thanks,” to boost Arab tourism in Egypt. The campaign was meant to express appreciation to the Gulf States that had backed Egypt in its critical juncture, he said.
