CAIRO - Due to its significance as the iconic square where the January 25 Revolution erupted, an activist launched an initiative on Tuesday to simultaneously celebrate the New Year and promote tourism in the country. Somaia el-Ganaini has called on all Egyptian to celebrate the first minutes of the New Year by participating in candlelit vigils in Tahrir Square and other squares nationwide. The purpose of this is to mourn the martyrs of the Arab Spring, who have died in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria. There will be a Christmas tree in Tahrir and in other squares, with photographs of the martyrs attached to each tree. Verses from the Holy Qur'an will be recited and hymns will be sung at the vigils. The activist, who emphasised that she doesn't belong to any political trend, said that it was her patriotism that pushed her to think of a way to promote tourism which has been badly hit by the unrest in the wake of the revolution. “This initiative offers a peaceful and civilised message to the world, and I think it will help the tourism sector bounce back,” Somaia told the official Middle East News Agency (MENA), adding New Year celebrations are broadcast in every country. Somaia, who said that she has applied for the necessary licences for this event, said that the revolutionary forces and youth coalitions, including the Coalition of Revolution Youth, the Union of Revolution Youth, the April 6 Movement and the National Assembly for Change, have all been invited. “I don't want politics to interfere, so as not to spoil the goodwill of this event,” she commented, adding that Egyptians of every sect are welcome to celebrate Egypt and the revolution on Saturday night. Somaia called on governmental institutes such as the Ministry of Tourism and the Tourism Promotion Authority to work together to ensure that her initiative will benefit tourism. According to a recent governmental report, tourism in Egypt was down almost 24 per cent for the third quarter of 2011 compared to the same period last year. About 2.8 million tourists visited Egypt between July and September, down from 3.6 million during the same quarter in 2010, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics report. Not surprisingly, the unrest that has been ongoing since January had harmed tourism, the report added. Tourist arrivals from Western Europe fell the most, followed by those from the Middle East, dropping 33.1 per cent and 21.6 per cent, respectively.
