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Nasser Nasser / AP
A foreign tourist takes a souvenir picture with an Egyptian guard during a visit to the Hatshepsut Temple, in Luxor, Egypt on Feb. 27, 2013.
Tourists have long flocked to Egypt to see the pyramids, take a trip up the majestic Nile or relax on one of its many sun-kissed beaches.
But, in a potentially damaging blow to its economy, Egypt has now been ranked below countries such as Pakistan, Yemen and Chad for "safety and security" in an influential report on tourism by the World Economic Forum.
It is perhaps little wonder that tourists are spooked — amid ongoing political unrest, Molotov cocktails, gunfire and tear gas have become almost commonplace in some areas.
Thousands of anti-government protesters gathered in Tahrir Square to mark the 2011 uprising that led to Egypt's change in power. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
Two years after the revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, protesters still return to Cairo’s Tahrir Square — where it all began — to demonstrate against the Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and lament the country’s failing economy.
Earlier this month, Bedouin gunmen kidnapped a British couple who were on their way to the glittering beaches of Sharm El Sheikh. They were quickly released, but Bedouins have taken other hostages and also attacked police stations and blocked access to towns to show their discontent with what they see as their poor treatment by Cairo.
Last month, thugs attacked and entered the InterContinental hotel in Cairo, forcing it to close down while it implemented heightened security measures.
And there has been also been unrest over death sentences handed out to 21 soccer fans over a deadly riot at a stadium last year.
From terrorism to road accidents
The World Economic Forum report, The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index 2013, ranked Egypt overall in 85th place out of the 140 countries considered by the group, down 10 from last year.
The safety and security category looked at "the costliness of common crime and violence as well as terrorism." It also considered the reliability of the police and the number of road traffic accidents.
Angry soccer fans took to the streets of Cairo Saturday, storming Egypt's soccer federation headquarters and setting it on fire. Two people were killed. NBC's Lester Holt reports.
Egypt was in 140th and last place on this list behind Yemen at 139, Chad at 138, and Pakistan at 137. The U.S. State Department has current travel warnings for the latter three countries, but not Egypt.
According to the Egypt’s state information service, tourism makes up 11.3 percent of Egypt’s gross domestic product.
In 2010, before the revolution, Egypt welcomed an estimated 14.7 million tourists who brought $12.5 billion in revenue. Last year, it had 11 million tourists bringing $10.5 billion in revenue.
Emile Asaad, manager of an American Express travel agency in the ancient city of Luxor, home to King Tut's tomb and the famous temples of Luxor and Karnak, said that “the important thing is that when people need to walk in the street they want to feel safe."
"We have over 400 boats on the Nile, there is still 20 to 25 percent occupancy on some of the most popular boats, but others are just sitting and not operating," he said. "We don't know how the future looks."
Adla Ragab, an economic advisor to the Egypt’s Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou, said officials were taken aback by the WEF report.
"When we first saw it, we were shocked. We held a lot of workshops to discuss this issue," she said by phone.
Ragab said media reports had led people to believe that Egypt is more dangerous than it actually is. She added that during a trip to the U.S., hotel staff had insisted on escorting her to a nearby restaurant after dark, but that didn’t mean she would advise people not to go to the U.S.
'It's a nice country'
A selection of foreign tourists in Egypt appeared to support Ragab’s view.
"I can say to anybody, go to Egypt! It's a nice country. There [are] so many things to see. It's very good weather, it's warm in the winter and there's no problem," Dirk Posner, of Leipzig, Germany, said while visiting the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Yuan Ye, from Shandong province, China, recommended that tourists use a trusted travel agency and explore the country with a group because of difficulties with facilities and services.
"I think generally it is safe for tourists, but you should be careful, very careful from the peddlers who try to sell you something — force to sell you something," he said with a smile.
Jaffar and Francoise Bentchikou, from Paris, France, also encouraged foreigners to visit.
"We saw that the problems were limited to some places so we just try to avoid them," Jaffar said. "[Tourists] have to be conscious of the situation, but for the time being we have seen nothing against tourists especially."
"We feel very bad about the revenue lost for tourism for the Egyptians," Francoise added. "That is something that makes us very unhappy."
But travel companies said many people were staying away.
Bob Atkinson, a travel expert with the U.K.-based price-comparison website TravelSupermarket.com, said unrest in Egypt had "seriously affected the tourist trade."
"The Arab uprisings very much put the Egypt market into a tailspin," he said.
Flavia Jaber, owner of Toronto-based company Road to Travel, which includes Road to Egypt, said that "our business to Egypt is dead in the water at the moment."
"People are not going to Egypt right now, at least not from North America," she said.
"Definitely there are things going on in Egypt that are very unsavory and when you are considering going on a holiday, you want to go and relax, have a good time," she added. "You might say let’s not go to Egypt this year, let’s wait until things settle down."
However, there was at least one thing in Egypt's favor in the WEF report — the price. The country was ranked the fourth cheapest tourist destination in the world "with competitive hotel prices, low fuel costs and low prices more generally."
Related:
Egypt violence is rooted in the economy, not just politics
Egypt could 'collapse,' army chief warns as violence continues
Leave a Comment:
So adore Egypt for having the balls to sentence those 21 low lifes to death! If you kill 70 people because of a @!$%#ing soccer game, then you forfeit your right to live PERIOD.
NBC News, what are you talking about??
You told us how great the Arab Spring was when it was happening.....
BTW... Beck had it right, not you.
That Beckerhead never gets anything right. He admits he doesnt give a Sh** about the political process---he's in all this just for the money! He got THAT RIGHT!
If you want propaganda, dont watch, read etc NBCNEWS.Com--- go back to Fox News. You'll get all the propaganda wou can swallow!
The Egyptian people have been had in electing this "former" official of the Muslim Brotherhood! He's already toned things down for now, but make NO MISTAKE, the goal of the ruling party is to establish the Islamic Republic of Iraq. Egytiam may have to rekindle Arab Spring. Until this is all sorted out, the US should proceed VERY carefully.
It is a sad day when Egypt, one of the oldest civilizations on earth with magnificent artifacts, is placed on a list of most dangerous countries to visit. I have been to Egypt. It WAS breathtaking for its historical/bibilical places, great food and hospitable people. The great majority of the people in Egypt want to live in peace and prosperity, but they made a sad choice when they replaced Mubarak for the Muslim Brotherhood dictatorship.
I am concerned about the future of all historical artifacts in the hands of radical muslims. the future generation may never get a chance to enjoy Egypt's splendid times gone by.
Very well said farideh.
farideh kashanian...you are very eloquent and well stated. Please come back and enjoy this very beautiful country. The people are the same ~~ still friendly and wonderful. They will welcome you with open arms.
Also, please do not worry about the historical artifacts. The scholars, Egyptologists, and even the vendors will not allowed them to be destroyed, stolen, or harmed. The most wonderful site I have ever seen was when the original revolution happened two (2) years ago. Many, MANY students (along with a couple of teachers/professors) joined arm in arm and stood around the Egyptian Museum. A very dear friend of mine was inside and filmed it. The Egyptians know that those artifacts connect them to their heritage and ancestors. They will not allow them to be harmed.
When the looters finally got inside the museum, they were limited to a couple of copies/replicas and one (1) mummy. The museum has been well guarded sine that time.
I look forward to seeing you back in Egypt one day. :) take care.
drjill, your humane appeals for Egypt, Egyptians, and Egypt's treasures, are obviously heartfelt and open-armed. It makes me even sadder for what is happening there and how many good and decent people are suffering from all the conflict, upheaval, and economic distress. I am conflicted myself about how to deal with the Islamists in charge without punishing regular people who deserve no punishment. It's an unpleasant situation all-around and I sense how much it must pain you to experience it. And still you make such a generous and openhearted appeal. Very admirable. Best wishes for you and all the other good people striving to save and protect what is so valuable in Egypt (no, not just the pyramids).
Adam44 ~~ thank you ever so much for your post!! Your kind words have made 6 people here (4 Egyptians & 2 Nigerians) very happy. You have also helped my heart. It is true that we really do not know what to do or how to think. But I keep teaching my students history, Jeffersonian democracy, and that they CAN make a difference if they just keep putting one foot in front of the other. I figure they will run the country in about 10 years. The majority of Egyptians are good and kind people. I have been coming back and forth, here, since 1997 and have seen the changes (both positive and negative). Along with the rest of my school I mourned four (4) of our students killed in the Port Said Football/Soccer tragedy. During the 9/11 attacks on humanity, I watched an Egyptian woman hold/hug one of my American College students as she cried from fear and tell her that she will be kept safe in Egypt. The woman told my student to call her Tata (The Arabic term for grandmother). From what I understand, they have kept in touch.
I watched my friend's students link arms and stand around the front of the Egyptian Museum during the revolution to guard the precious artifacts inside. I only wish stories like this would be told. The Egyptians and many others (like the Nigerian teachers with me) read these stories and blogs. It hurts them deeply to hear the names people call them. But, for this day, your post has made a HUGE difference to many people here. You have helped to ease a bit of that suffering. And I thank you for that!!
Take care.
No problem! Who ya gonna call? - John Kerry, he'll save you. He'll give a $250,000,000 gaurantee. No worries!
Who cares about Egypt - nobody! Who cares about North Africa - nobody! Sand in Egypt is like salt in Salt Lake City, it's there & nobody wants it, and you can't get rid of it!
Hades is fourth on the list, just edging out Chicago.
Islam and tourism have not been, are not now and will never be compatible. See for your self...try to get a tourist visa for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or what I refer to as Islam's home office. Not gonna happen; the authorized list of visit reasons are for business and work, to visit close relatives, and for transit and religious visits by Muslims. I'm not saying that there aren't interesting things to see and do there but it seems to me that the presence of non-Muslims on what is considered Islamic turf causes them physical pain and great mental anguish.
Egypt is headed down this very same Islamic isolation road with the next stop being the destruction of anything of any religious consequence that came before Islam...or as they call it, "the age of ignorance". Oh well, at least we have films, photos and a few looted artifacts so at least they won't be able to totally deny that these monuments to human history ever existed. The time for visiting these wonders of the ancient world, I'm afraid, are at an end.
I would be afraid to visit Egypt and Yemen and the other countries named. It sounds very bad that you were caught in a revolution and were raped, killed, robbed and beaten. I remember they had the so called accident with the hot air balloon and the basket bottom ripped open and everyone fell through. I wouldn’t want to put my life in someone else’s hands in one of these countries. Is there a way to sue people there in Egypt or if you get hurt it is your loss? With my luck I’d be killed. I would like to tour these countries but they are too dangerous and its better to just pick safe ones to go and visit. You could even get in trouble for helping with a revolution like some college kids did. I don’t think Egypt will have another revolution that soon to today. They are split even I believe on love and hate of Morsi. Egypt needs to come up with new ways to make money and create some new jobs for people. It sounds bad there that people can spend all day protesting and rioting. They should be given something else to do like working. They need to do some advertising and show off Egyptian people in new clothes and doing good activities. They can this way get people to want to buy new things and get them to do positive activities. Egypt could even make the new clothes and things like that so it would be a win win situation.
I'm sure the hundreds of millions we are giving them will help.....Ha! wet farts go over better than Obama policies!
You have to be nuts to go there or any other raghead country. It never gets "better" over there, it just stays the same, which is a hellhole.
Outside of Canada,it's really hard to find a country that doesn't hate America.That's what happens when you are on top.These countries have been around for millenniums and they are still stytholes.I think the word Cairo in Arabic actually means "shythole!
The city of Cairo in the 10th c. AD was named El-Kahira, Arabic for the planet "Mars". The ancient Egyptians named Mars after their god Horus, Hor Dshr "Horus the red", and the "red planet" was apparently associated with the Sphinx, which was originally painted red. (This info is from "The Mars Mystery" by Graham Hancock, p. 169-170.)
Dorothy-669450 ~~ good post and history Dorothy. Further, the Great Pyramid directly is aligned with the central star in the constellation of Orion's Belt. (Pleades). It is also based on the ancient perfect number of 5. (not 7 ~ that was later). Finally, we know the ancient Egyptians had wind and solar power. They had the ability of going under the water, and had even a form of what we would call a battery. I would love to show you Abydos and the Thierry Helicopter. I would also love to show you the village where Om Seti spent her life. I have interviewed her care providers and have even been in her home. There are so many wonderful and amazing things to see and do there.
Last, but definitely not least, I was discussing this with a group of my friends here. They wanted me to tell you that they would love you to come because your name means, "Gift from God". They would treat you like the Goddess they believe you to be.
Keep reading and in very respectful and kind regards,
If I want to go to a desert and see a pyramid, I'll go to Las Vegas! I can catch New York at the same time.
Elect an idiot who wants to take you back to the year 700, you get just what you voted for! They have no one to blame but themselves.
Any where there are Muslims there are problems. Just normal in the Muslim world.
I would love to go see those beautiful ancient and mysterious monuments if and when I can ever afford it, which may be never, in this lifetime at least. I'm not too afraid of dangers, as if a trip is well planned with reliable tour guides, Egypt, even in this time of unrest, is probably still safer than several US urban areas I've been to and even the crime-ridden area I live and walk around in daily.
Dorothy-669450.....Oh Dorothy come with me. Let me show you my beautiful Egypt and introduce you to her people. I live here (and in the states too) and would love to show you their kindness and hospitality. Don't be afraid. Egypt kept the Holy Family safe, they have kept my students and me safe through the attacks on humanity in New York, and they kept me safe during the revolution. They are wonderful.
There are problems all over this world. But, the Egyptians believe kindness will equal kindness....and I have found this to be true. There are so many wonderful and mysterious sites here that you would love. Save up your money, keep in touch with me, and let me take you to the land where all time began.
No No , this article is incorrect, no where does it mention that 600 people were murdered last year.. where did it happen? In Chicago, that's the most dangerous place to be.. 21 killed is peanuts compared to the deaths in Chicago.. I wonder why it was not counted?
So..is it Pakistan or Yemen? MSNBC has some serious typo issues..to go along with their annoying pop ups. I wish they would send their webmaster and the staff to the unemployment line.
Be sure to take your burka along to the beach ladies. We don't want to see any skin.
Yep but that's a few years off still, religious police patrolling the streets to stamp out sin and vice. First things first. The new theocrats need to stabilze the economy and consolidate their power. Enter President Obama and Clinton/Kerry to the rescue with Hundreds of Millions of Dollars. But what exactly are they rescuing?
And this is a surprise? It's been known for thousands of years that area of the world is the most dangerous and will always be. Read your history folks.
What the hell is wrong with you? Invest in America and spen your money at home, in the United States. The world is a different place and you cannot trust any of the Middle Eastren crap-holes. Nor can Mexico be trusted..... Travel in Canada and the United States and get to know your own country................
Love it, there is soooo much to see in the great USA, we have so much more to offer , hell, we have everything, The pyramids pale in comparison to the Grand Canyon etc. Wanna see man made marvels go to New York.
It seems that the perpetually corrupt Egyptian government and religious authorities are the real problem that is hurting tourism, not the people themselves, yet the people are the ones who suffer from the steady decline in tourism. The same thing is true elsewhere in Africa and the rest of the world.
That's very true Dorothy but at least in Egypt the corrupt, religious authorities were just elected into power by a majority of Egyptians. A slim majority, yes, but still.... I feel very badly for the 48% who desperately wanted something else besides Muhammad Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Egypt. How's that Arab Spring going for you? Too bad all the fundamentalists had to come out of the woodwork like the Arab Brotherhood and their resulting power grab. How are you liking your new President or should I say supreme leader?. Egypt actually has something a tourist would like to see with the Pyramids and the Sphinx and the ancient ruins. We all have to remember that an Islamist Government no matter how benevolent and open they say they may be is certainly more intolerant of tourism than a secular government would be. Hopefully Turkey will be able to retain their secular government. The Islamists are just itching to ruin that country too with their extremist views.
I've been o the most dangerous spots on earth, at all the wrong times! All I can say is, keep your head up, and pay attention. Which means your "vacation" isn't all that relaxing! You want to be safe? Take a "stay-cation"!
Every time I stop a a Korner Kwicky-Mart I could swear I was in Egypt or Pakistan...
I know what......... lets give them Fighter Aircraft and tanks and transport aircraft to help make them like us more, sweeten the pot with a couple of billion dollars and we'll be in their good graces forever or at least....... till they remember we are a bunch of western infidels, sounds good huh?