CAIRO: As Egypt's summer tourism season approaches its peak, Minister of Tourism Zoheir Garranah sat down with Daily News Egypt to discuss issues of interest to industry watchers. His outlook for 2008 so far is optimistic. Garranah said the winter season was a success, and the initial indicators for the summer have all been positive. "The potential is quite high for another record year in 2008, he said. One of the issues in the news recently is the Grand Hyatt's controversial decision to ban alcohol, and the subsequent decision to strip the hotel of some of its stars. In May, the owner of Cairo's five-star Grand Hyatt, Saudi businessman Sheikh Abdel-Aziz Ibrahim, ordered his hotel to stop serving alcohol, putting him in violation of the ministry's star-rating regulations which states that any hotel with three or more stars must allow the sale of alcohol. According to Garranah, the dispute is not about serving alcohol, but about respecting Egyptian rules and regulations. Any owner is entitled to run his hotel the way he wants, provided that he respects any agreements that have been concluded before banning alcohol service, Garranah said. The Grand Hyatt received a five-star classification, which allows it to charge higher prices. At the same time, it makes certain stipulations, such as serving alcohol. The sudden decision to stop serving alcohol not only violates industry regulations, it also affects other agreements with tour operators as well as corporate and management companies. "This is something we do not accept, Garranah said, with a clear stance on what must happen. "There are no negotiations. All laws and ministerial decrees must be respected. If the hotel does not comply with ministry regulations by July 25, then, effective immediately, it will be downgraded to a two-star hotel and its rates will have to reflect its new classification. On another note, the minister spoke about the rise of Dubai as a regional competitor. Almost overnight Dubai has emerged as a major regional tourist destination. Could Dubai, which received 6 million visitors in 2007 and aims to host 15 million by 2015, challenge Egypt's dominance over tourism in the Middle East? For his part, the minister welcomed Dubai's emergence, but views the Emirate as complimenting and not competing with Egypt's tourism industry. And a closer look at the statistics reveals that Egypt is more than a few steps ahead. "Dubai's average stay is between two and three nights. If we take the best case scenario, that means Dubai has generated 18 million room nights in 2007. Egypt in 2007 generated 111 million room nights. That's a very big difference, he said. When it comes to tourism in Egypt, many tourists complain about the service at Cairo International Airport. On June 17, Al-Hayat, a London-based daily, published a highly critical article on tourism in Egypt. The article alleged that because of poor service in the Egyptian tourism industry and chaotic conditions at Cairo Airport, a "large number of Gulf tourists have decided not to come to Egypt this summer. There are some loose ends in the look of any operation.we are working very strongly with all the ministries to fix them, said Garranah. However, these complaints are not consistent with "the growth we are having. "If you consider that a country that is having a 25 percent increase where the world movement does not exceed 6 percent, then definitely there must be something right going on, Garranah said. Cairo Airport is currently in the last stages of a $400 million expansion, which recently introduced Terminal 3 to the fold. However, due to some delays in construction, passengers at Terminal 2 - which hosts Kuwaiti and Saudi Arabian Airlines - have, in the words of one tourism insider, received the "short end of the stick. For one, travelers have to take a shuttle bus from the parking lot to the terminal, and another from the terminal to the plane. Could this explain some of the alleged complaints from Gulf tourists? Garranah focuses on the big picture. As part of the expansion plan "we had to close down certain pathways within the airport which is an inconvenience.[but] we are very much aware of these issues and everyone involved is doing their best. In the long run, the enhanced capacity of the new airport, scheduled to be completed in November, will be well worth the short-term hassles. Environmentalist groups worry that Egypt's rapid tourism growth has come at the expense of the nation's natural resources, especially in the Sinai and Red Sea areas. The minister emphasized that this is one of his highest priorities, adding that the ministry is conducting several studies focusing on sustainable development. He also cited specific measures to eliminate environmental degradation in Red Sea diving resorts. For example, the ministry is working with the Diving Association to train boat captains in deep-sea anchoring tactics. Previously, boats had caused great damage by anchoring directly above coral reefs. There are also plans to limit the number of divers at each site and to increase diving fees.
