CAIRO: Representatives from Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) sent a message of reassurance to tour operators and foreign workers in the tourism sector, at a meeting on Sunday, pledging no changes or restrictions over beaches in the coming period. The party also asserted the freedom of the tourist to wear whatever clothes, including bikinis, and have full access to all types of food and beverages. The FJP took almost 45 percent of seats in recent parliamentary and was followed by the ultra-conservative Salafist al-Nour Party, which won around 20 percent of the seats. “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. 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. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/tU0Ak Tags: Alcohol, Bikinis, featured, Muslim Brotherhood, Tourism Section: Egypt, Latest News, Travel
