After the revolution that put the Muslim brotherhood into power, Egyptians are complaining that all the
tourists have gone.
Strange that, you vote of an Islamic party, and they threaten non Muslims, both fellow citizens and foreigners (including attacks on bars and restaurants that sell alcohol), but expect the stupid Westerners to still come to the country in vast numbers and spend money. The brotherhood want no alcohol sold, no women in bikinis, or any mixed sex bathing at beaches ..... just the message Western tourists want to hear.
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| No More Western Tourists in Islamist Egypt? |
Strange that, you vote of an Islamic party, and they threaten non Muslims, both fellow citizens and foreigners (including attacks on bars and restaurants that sell alcohol), but expect the stupid Westerners to still come to the country in vast numbers and spend money. The brotherhood want no alcohol sold, no women in bikinis, or any mixed sex bathing at beaches ..... just the message Western tourists want to hear.
Even our do nothing government has issued some advise about travelling to Egypt, the UK Foreign Office travel advice to Egypt mentions "a high risk of attacks which could be indiscriminate, including in public places frequented by foreigners" .... they don't issue that advice lightly. But maybe after reports of kidnappings in Sinai, felt that they had to. However to my mind, there has always been a large extremist element in Egypt.
I can still recall the killing of German tourists a few years ago ... (17 November 1997), an attack in Luxor when six armed Islamic terrorists attack tourists at Egypt's Luxor Ruins. 62 killed, 26 injured. Also the 2004 Sinai bombings, and 2005
Sharm el-Sheikh attacks, and then the sectarian attacks like that on 1st January 2011 in Alexandria, Egypt, when a car bomb exploded outside a Coptic Orthodox church after worshippers had gathered for a prayer celebration on New Year's Eve. 21 dead, 97 injured
All these were by people who hold very similar views to those who run Egypt now ..... not encouraging for the future of Egypt's Western tourist trade, which is under threat from the ambitious Gulf States who actively seek Western visitors and amend laws on alcohol and sexes mixing accordingly, and even Saudi Arabia, which apparently has plans to expand the tourist sector (it already gets Muslim visitors due to pilgrims at Mecca and Medina, but long-term wants richer 'Western' visitors).
All these were by people who hold very similar views to those who run Egypt now ..... not encouraging for the future of Egypt's Western tourist trade, which is under threat from the ambitious Gulf States who actively seek Western visitors and amend laws on alcohol and sexes mixing accordingly, and even Saudi Arabia, which apparently has plans to expand the tourist sector (it already gets Muslim visitors due to pilgrims at Mecca and Medina, but long-term wants richer 'Western' visitors).
Egypt relies on tourism from the West to provide foreign exchange and a large proportion of GDP (about 16% in 2007 but still 8% in 2013) ... so a lot of jobs and money at stake ....
Looks like the Turks are trying to do the same thing. Anti-Beer laws (within a certain distance of Mosques and schools - which is just about everywhere). Next it will be no bikinis on streets or beaches, and then the tourists will be gone.
ReplyDeleteWell a decade later, and Turkey is still under the same leader and is barely a secular state ... they have stopped short of attacking bars or bikinis, and indeed still advertise Turkey holidays in Western countries, but there's no doubt its more Islamist than ever before, and is still heading in that direction.
DeleteAs for Egypt, well the Muslim Brotherhood were ousted by the army (more successfully than the weak attempt in Turkey) and the state just about keeps the lid on the Islamist attacks on tourist hotspots .... but increasingly, the upper end tourists now head to the gulf Arab states, especially the United Arab Emirates as safer and more 'Western' destinations.
The UAE population for example, including expats is 9.99 million of which 8.84 million are the ex-pats, which constitutes approximately 89% of the population ... however only 31% of the total population is female (a somewhat worry figure in the long-term) .
Sorry for missing the original comment .... I was a little erratic those days.