CAIRO: First impressions can be lasting, and in the case of the Cairo International Airport, it has an influential role in shaping perceptions of the tourism industry and the country as a whole. Tourism officials and tourists often complain about the quality of service at Cairo Airport. On June 17, the London-based pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat reported that the type of service offered at the airport is driving tourists to other regional destinations. According to the author, Gulf tourists are tired of dealing with aggressive cab drivers or workers who demand tips for services that are assumed to be free in any other airport. As a result, a "large number of Saudis, for example, are choosing to spend the 2008 summer in Lebanon or Turkey instead of Cairo. However, an extensive survey of recent travelers and officials at various airlines suggests that there is no relationship between the number of travelers to Egypt this summer and hassles related to dealing with aggressive Egyptian airport workers. While a bad airport experience could prove annoying, industry players note that more important factors affect tourists decision on whether to visit Egypt or not. Commenting on complaints about the quality of airport services, Mostafa El-Shinnawi, sales manager at Saudi Arabian Airlines, said, "None of this is new. All of these things have been going on for years so it won't suddenly cause tourists from the Gulf to change their travel plans. Jeanette Amin, who holds a similar position with Middle East Airlines, was equally dismissive and disputed all of the allegations in the Al-Hayat article. Amin said, "Even if this is going on, which I have seen nothing to suggest it is, given the higher level of income of Gulf visitors, these tips would be 'peanuts' for them. It is "ridiculous to suggest that the advantages Cairo offers to Gulf visitors, such as a comparatively lower cost, would be mitigated by a few minutes of hassle at the airport and cause them to vacation in much more expensive Lebanon, she added. The airport is in the process of building a third terminal that will double annual capacity to 22 million visitors when completed in late 2008. But to facilitate the expansion, airport authorities were forced to make several temporary changes in traffic flow, which has caused some irritation for travelers. Terminal 2, which houses Saudi Arabian and Kuwait Airlines, among others, was given the "short-end of the stick, says Karim Nabhan, the branch manager for Delta Airlines in Egypt. Travelers must take a shuttle from the parking lot to the terminal and another from the terminal to the plane. In addition, due to the relatively long distance from the plane to the terminal, it often takes substantially longer for airport workers to transport bags from the plane to baggage claims, which can lengthen the journey for inbound passengers. This can be a hassle for older, less mobile passengers. Long distance customers may also find it aggravating. "Someone who has had a 16 or 17-hour journey . just wants to grab their bags, go home and take a shower and might not find these extra delays especially welcoming, says Nabhan. However, none of the recent travelers interviewed by Daily News Egypt felt that the inability to board planes directly from the terminal affected the quality of the journey. In fact, most felt that the service was quite good although several complained about the amount of time it took for luggage to be transported from planes to the baggage claim in Terminal 2. Minster of Tourism Zoheir Garannah acknowledged that there are some problems, but says that they are the unavoidable result of airport construction. "Because of this expansion, we had to close certain pathways within the airport, which made it inconvenient for many. This construction, plus the change in logistics, definitely caused some problems but everyone is doing their best to finish the new terminal as quickly as possible. The only other option would have been to reduce the number of flights, but that would have affected business travelers who demand a constant stream of flights, he explained. So the hassles will continue until November, but "people have [been coping] with us for years. I think that four months is a very small amount of time for people to receive top-class service in the future. Several industry officials suspect that the number of visitors to Egypt is slightly down this summer. But they do not believe it is related to conditions at Cairo International Airport. Factors, such as international summer events and the political situation in nearby tourist attractions, have their effect on tourism levels in Egypt. Since the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, tourists have been wary of visiting Lebanon. But with the Doha agreement in May, which paved the way for the creation of a new government, tourists, some of whom may have spent the previous summers in Egypt, are returning to Lebanon. Competition from global sporting events may also be responsible. Nabhan suspects that some tourists who might otherwise have visited Egypt this summer have instead attended the European Cup in Austria or will go to China for the Olympics. Nabhan, who has over three decades of experience in the Middle East travel industry, identifies infrastructure, specifically a lack of hotel rooms - not the quality of service at Cairo Airport - as an obstacle to the expansion of Egyptian tourism.
