Travellers advised to avoid Egypt holidays this year
That’s the advice of the Department of Foreign Affairs which has been monitoring the declining security situation in one of the greatest tourist destinations in the world.
“Due to increased civil unrest, Irish citizens are advised to avoid non-essential travel to Egypt at the present time, with the exception of the Red Sea resorts,” says the department.
“We strongly advise Irish citizens who are currently in Egypt to exercise extreme caution, to avoid all protests and demonstrations and to monitor this travel advice and the local media for updates on the situation.
“Protests and demonstrations can turn violent, often without warning, and there have been cases where this violence has resulted in large numbers of deaths and injuries. If caught up in a demonstration, Irish citizens should not attempt to take photographs and should leave the area immediately.”
These warnings are on foot of a state of emergency declared by the Egyptian authorities which is expected to last at least one month.
The Egyptian daily newspaper al Alhram reports that the ministry of state for antiquities has closed all archaeological sites and museums across Egypt.
British Airways says it has altered flights schedules to Cairo so that they do not land in the evening, into the dusk-to-dawn curfew that has been imposed across the capital and other major areas.
The unrest is taking its toll on Egypt’s hospitality industry since June when violent protests broke out against president Mohamed Mursi. On July 3, the army ousted the Muslim leader, leading to further violence and the tour buses that once lined the streets around the pyramids have disappeared.
“We hope to the Lord that he will bring back those busy days, because all of us rely on tourism alone,” Gameel Hassan told the French news agency AFP.
He has run a shop near the pyramids selling papyrus prints for nearly 20 years. Now, his shop is empty. “There have been no tourists coming from outside. From June 30 until now, there have been none,” he said.
Tourists, many of them Irish, have disappeared from the Khan el-Khalili bazaar in Cairo. This warren of narrow streets used to see coach-loads of people coming to haggle over souvenirs.
After dark, the area is crowded with Egyptians talking a stroll after the iftar meal to break the Ramadan fast, but the foreigners are nowhere to be seen.
Egypt’s tourism minister Hisham Zaazou acknowledges to AFP that the tourism sector is suffering, as the current unrest is hitting the peak season.
“In the first 15 days of July 2013, Egypt welcomed 387,000 tourists compared with 515,000 tourists in the same period last year,” he said.
In 2010, the year before the revolution, Egypt attracted 14.7m visitors, a record high. That plunged by nearly a third to around 10m in 2011, then rose to 11.5m in 2012.
Zaazou said he had plans for a fresh PR offensive abroad, but added that getting countries to lift advisories against travelling to Egypt is his main aim.
The situation has been made worse by reports of sexual assaults on tourists. Hotels will be closed down immediately if it is proven that their employees sexually harassed tourists, said Zazou.
“We [the ministry] have received reports of around 150 cases of sexual harassment committed against tourists. There have been three rape cases reported.”
He has vowed to close hotels where attacks occurred.
