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Tourism and Terrorism in the Sinai

The war on terrorism VS. the war on tourism!



CAIRO, EGYPT—The Sinai peninsula is divided into two parts... Their Northern part is located along the border with Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip. It is the part that witnesses the battles against terrorists and the tunnels used for smuggling arms, drugs and criminals.
The Southern half is the part which has drawn tourists from all over the world to enjoy the magical nature, stunning coastlines, offering wonderful safari adventures, diving, and even healing at spas and worship as well, all making the Southern Sinai a major target for all kinds of tourism, entertainment and fun. Located in Southern Sinai; the mountain from which God spoke to Moses. It is the place where Jesus Christ and his mother the Virgin Mary lived for a while, looking for safety from the Romans. Last week I went there to work, but was shocked when I saw the sharp decline in the numbers of tourists. In the past, finding a place to sleep in any hotel of any level was a hard job. Virtually all of the hotels and rooms were booked constantly for months in advance, and despite the large increase in the numbers of new hotels which have been built, they had bookings and reservations up to 130%… It became a hard task just to walk in the streets because of the large numbers of tourists in cities like Sharm el- Sheikh and Dahab. Today, the difficult task is to find ten tourists walking on the same street at the same time. Even more difficult is the task of the owners of those hotels and tourist facilities to be able to survive and keep their businesses open and to pay the salaries of their employees. This is despite the fire sale discounts offered to attract tourists, which has reached a level that a tourist pays less than one thousand dollars for airline tickets and full accommodation in Five Star hotels.

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During my stay in the charming area, bad news came about an attack on a bus full of Korean tourists from the city of ​​Taba, located in the far north of the Sinai. The tourists suffered minor injuries, while three policemen, the bus driver and the suicide bomber died. The incident ended all hope to restore tourism in South Sinai any time soon. Directly after the attack, terrorists declared that they will give tourists in southern Sinai just four days to leave… or else! As a result of the political instability and daily protests in Egypt—which usually end in violence, coupled with the brief rule of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt frightening off tourists, contributed to a serious decline in tourism. The final blow came recently with terrorists declaring an economic war, though more like a war on terrorism VS. the war on tourism. The goal is to destroy this important revenue stream. Egypt depends on tourism—in large part—the foreign currency such as Dollars, Euros and Pounds. As far as revenue for Egypt, tourism ranks right behind the Suez Canal. The terrorists aim to punish people for the overthrow of the Brotherhood rule, and punish the army and police, who arrested leaders of the Brotherhood and seized their funding sources. They also wish to weaken the state and provoke people against the government if it cannot meet their economic needs— considered the most important reasons for the two Egyptian revolutions. From what I witnessed myself on the streets, in the markets and hotels of Sinai, I can say that terrorists have sadly succeeded in achieving their goal. I heard a lot of stories from business owners and tourists about the impact of those threats and bombings on the state of present and future tourism in the Sinai especially and Egypt in general. Marlies Lang, a German diver who has worked and lived in Dahab for 12 years, says: since the first revolution, the number of tourists has decreased dramatically, despite deep discounts offered by tourist facilities. Without tourists it is hard to cover expenses and to keep business open. The recent threats have influenced tourists negatively, although while there, I did not see many of them leaving. But many reservations have been canceled, and some famous newspapers and websites in Germany and Britain have been publishing warnings against coming to Egypt. I have already started getting calls from Europe asking me about the situation, wanting assurances Egypt its safe after the dire media warnings. Lang adds that she personally was never afraid at all in Dahab and always feels it as a safe place, but today she doesn't know what to say to those who ask her whether to come to Egypt or not for the first time. A lot of countries are putting Egypt on the danger list for tourists, which, in my opinion, is an overreaction because what happens in Egypt could happen anywhere, and the security situation here is getting more stable by day. Even with a strong police and army at work, no one can prevent crime before it happens 100% of the time. That only happens in science fiction stories or in utopia.


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Ali Al Sharnoby -- Bio and Archives

Ali Alsharnoby, an Egyptian journalist and deputy editor, worked in many Egyptian newspapers.

Studied at university of Cairo, faculty of law.. and wrote a number of books about the political trends in the Islamic view.


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