Tourists to Sinai have largely ignored the violent incidents of recent days on the border between Egypt and Israel that left both Israelis and Egyptians dead as occupancy rates at hotels in Red Sea towns like Nuweiba and Taba are up 70 percent. “The number of Israeli tourists coming to the Sinai Peninsula are very few compared to other nationalities and number no more than 25,000 tourists,” said Sami Suleiman, the head of investors in Nuweiba and Taba. “The events currently taking place in South Sinai – the death of two soldiers and the wounding of another – are not of any concern to the tourism sector,” he added, noting that tourists recently were not exposed to any violence. Since there is violence in Europe, the violence in Sinai is not a real deterrent, he added. Sueliman said safaris will resume in October in Dahab, Taba and Nuweiba after a 15 year hiatus, explaining that the trips had stopped for security reasons. “If the events in South Sinai continue to worse, it will have a very bad effect on the tourism sector … Sinai is a destination for Israelis because they can enter without a visa and Israelis like to visit holy places in Sinai,” said Samy Mahmoud, head of the International Tourism Authority. “Taba, Nuweiba and Sharm el-Sheikh have not been affected so far, but if events worsen, of course, they will be affected,” he said, pointing out that tourism in Egypt set a target this year of 10.6 million visitors to make up for lost revenue during the January 25 Revolution. “Israeli tourists entering Egypt without a visa revived tourism,” said Adel Abdel Razek, a tourism expert. He stressed that tourism programs have been at a standstill since the beginning of the revolution and he fully supports tourism cooperation with Israel, so long as it serves the interests of Egyptians. However, he added, “What is happening at the border is unacceptable.”
