E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
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:
Wait a minute. "Barry's Buddies" are in charge now. It's much safer than under Mubarak. After all, we gave them F-16s and Abrams Tanks. All should be peaceful with that fire power. Kinda like the paradise destination of Benghazi.
Blamo - ya gotta get over Benghazi - it was a tragedy - and the people who were asleep at the wheel in intelligence are now working at your trailer park as security agents.
Are you still pissed off about "The Maine" - which started the Spanish American War?
I am Beachbum, feel better now?
where is chicago on this list?
#4, right between Sudan and Detroit.
well so much for Arab Spring obama-tardz!
With our economy in bad shape, if you are an American, take a vacation here in the lower 48. Leave the money here in America. You'll probably be as safe here as in any of the middle eastern countries.
Why not Alaska or Hawaii?
Puerto Rico! great beaches, jungle, caves, cigars, casinos, 4-lane highways, more toll roads than New Jersey. Safe, the US dollar is the currency, and it's cheap to fly there. Dang, I should go to work for the PR tourist commission. I've been to Cairo. Cairo smells. No, I mean it. Physically disgusting. Alexandria is worse. Dead $4it floating in the water where the Nile hits the Med. yaaak.
Blamo,
Yeah. Hawaii is great!
Windward Ohau, The North Shore, Kauai and Hawaii are great.
Avoid Waikiki and Honolulu.
If you want to vacation in the Middle East then Dubai is the best place to go for Safety, Beauty and Hospitality. They have world class attractions opening every year. Americans do not need a Visa for the 1st 30 days and can get that extended easily.
Pakistan breaks open the bubbly ! Although not out of any of it's contribution, it will take it. Come to think of it, daily attack of terrorists, periodic killing of 100 Shias, terrorizing Hindus and abducting Hindu girls, Ahmediyas practically living underground, sponsoring global terror and the list goes on, inspite of all these, it has managed to stay away from the bottom. Raja Pervez wipes the sweat of his forehead! Seriously, could any place be worse off than Pakistan ? Hard to believe.
I wonder if it would make any difference if thousands of foreign tourists, who would love to go to Egypt but are deeply concerned about dangers from kidnappers or fanatics, would write to the Egyptian embassy explaining why they are going somewhere else?
I would not go there and I would not let them come here.
I would love to see Egypt and all of the ancient sites. However, I'm not naive enough to think that I would be safe if I went there. The people of the Middle East HATE Westerners on principle. We represent everything their religion says is "bad".
Like quite a few people stated above; there are plenty of great sites to see in the United States and Canada. France and England wouldn't be a bad travel destination either.
The risk is not worth the reward of seeing any of the Middle Eastern sh**hole countries in person. The sites look very good on my HD TV and computer screen.
Paul come to Egypt. Her people will be ready to be here and welcome you. They do not hate westerners as you say. Further, Egypt is actually in North Africa. If you were to study the culture of Egypt you would study it in the Oriental Studies Dept....NOT Middle Eastern Studies. You would also study it in Archeology and Egyptology.
Egypt IS safe. I live here and in the states. I feel safer in Heliopolis than I do in my home in San Diego. The Huffington Post recently came out with an article that said Egypt was safe. Peter Greensberg also has publically stated that Egypt is safe.
In kind regards,
I went to Egypt 25 years ago - and it was 4th world experience. I have never seen such poverty.
I understand that Egypt has gone downhill since then - based on the battle between "the wealthy .001% / and the crazy religious fundamentalist zealots".
Ummmm....I think I will pass on Club Med Cairo .....at least for a century or two....
Glad I visited Egypt while it was still a dictatorship. Detroit, on the other hand.....
Same can be said of L.A.,Frisco,NYC,New Orleans,Camden,Trenton and Chicago. Just to name a few.
Who needs to go to Egypt? It is dangerous. And dirty. An polluted. And full of people who hate Americans.
Just go to the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and you can see a lot of real Egyptian artifacts, including two monuments!
Americans are not very popular almost everywhere that you want to go - north, south, east, or west.
Perhaps it is because of our obsession with meaningless wars - everyone is tired of them. Except the Pentagon.
Um, well, that particular staff was being unnecessarily cautious. You're not likely to get caught up in any terroristic crossfire, car explosions, or have a molotov cocktail tossed in your general direction in America.
Perhaps it would be best if America stops meddling in other peoples affairs. We think we are doing what's best, but recent history clearly shows otherwise. Arab Spring Indeed.
Democracies made of sand. One thing that the Arab Spring didn't account for was the rains that wash it away.
But it is so elegant to die among the antiquities, you can always request interment in the Great Pyramid or have your ashes scattered in the Nile.
My wife and I (35yo Americans) spent about a month there in July Cairo, Giza, Luxor, cruise down to Aswan and back. We researched the risks in advance and even spoke to Egyptians living abroad about its saftey. We decided to avoid the Sinai Pennensula due to US dept of State reports of frequent kidnappings and as well as Eqyptians saying they wouldn't recommend we travel there. Glad we avoided it with the recent kidnappings. I would not recommend visiting Cairo. There was constant talk of more 'revolution' demonstrations and parades in the streets even on days other than the weekly friday demonstration after the mosques let out. Despite our research we learned while we were there of the rape and beating of 2 western women at Tahrir Square on seperate incidents during their frequent demonstrations. We unfortunately spent 10 days there waiting for our India visa to go through and didn't go outside more than a day or so. It didn't feel safe. No other foreigners, people look at you with a unwelcoming and even hostile look. Its a very lawless, wild west kind of feeling. We also decide to take a day train up from Luxor to see the "sights" during the day. Bad move. Only foreigners on the train, our tour guide had to buy the tickets on the black market just to get them, people everywhere (laying in overhead bins and on sides of chairs) despite it being their 'highest class' ticket. People reading/ chanting the Koran near us and generally speaking/ arguing im sure about us being there in their language. Not a pleasant experience to say the least. Although I still recommend seeing the Giza Pyramids and luxor maybe in a tour, I think this report got it right on. EGYPT IS NOT SAFE! These people are suspect of westerners and are NOT happy you are there! Im glad a report finally isn't sugar coating the truth like most guide books do. If you decide to go, just do your research about the latest situations and know the risks.
I'm stunned. Who would of thunk it.
The articles writer needs to go spend some time in DC, or Chicago....
Looking at the picture under the Headline, the Egyptian guard looks like he's reaching for a shive... just say'in...
So, how will the world react when Islamists begin destroying Egyptian statues and firing rockets into the Sphinx?
Same way we react when they destroy or kill anything or anyone else... sit around and talk about it while they keep acting out! Same thing here in the States with the unEqual rights movement just in case you have been asleep...
So...tourist are spooked ? I would say that is an "understatement". Lets see...is it radical islam or just a bunch of pissed off voters ? I happen to know...it's a fact,that the muslim brotherhood is not in favor of tourism...especially infidels from the west !! So maybe in years past it was a good place for tourism...but something has changed in the past 20 years,I think it has to do with ideology cloaked in "religion"...just a guess...going out on a limb with that one. I think that anyone with a modicum of "common sense" would avoid Egypt...and go see the Grand canyon !
Yes please do, we need your $ in Arizona, gotta pay for that life sustaining water somehow! And besides, unless we (US of A) bust out the big weapons, Egypt will never have a crack in the ground like ours, and the mighty Colorado is every bit as filthy as their Nile...
I think we'll be touring europe this year, safe places like Germany, Switzerland and, even, Hungary. I know where I'm not wanted. The Islamists have sent their message, and too bad for the 'good' egyptians who let them do so. They can't guarantee squat, and I certainly can't carry personal protection there. F*** 'em, and their priceless monuments, which hopefully have been preserved digitally.
My 30 year old son and I love to travel together and have hit 5 different countries in the last 4 years, and while BOTH of us are great admirers of the ancient culture of Egypt, we have discussed it and decided it is just too dangerout for an American to travel there. Sad. We were in Greece 4 years ago, and I'm not sure I'd go back THERE now, since the rioting /machine gun toting police was already beginning there then.
Ironically, I also will not go back to Mexico, even though I've spent one summer living there and visited various areas over the years 7 other times. It's just too dangerous, and despite speaking Spanish, I will instead visit Central American countries like Costa Rica, rather than risk Mexico's drug/crime/corruption culture.
Sad, because I still have friends in Mexico.
So, yeah--WHEN will countries realize that not all Americans are George Bush, and that many of us are people who would LOVE to share in the wonderment of geographic/cultural wonders, while spending much needed money in their countries.
Better yet, how about spending that hard earned cash in America. There are people here that need jobs. There are people here in your own country that can use your support. Shop, eat out, spend a night or two in a nice hotel. What I like to do on vacation is buy new stuff for my apartment, like furniture. Or new clothes and shoes in the stores near my place. But it's the better quality items. How about pay some bills, like your cell phone, pay it for the full year. Cable bill, electric bill. Keep your dollars here in America, try to buy something made here as well. Don't support these other countries, support the hard working people in the country you live in. And for Gods sake if you don't have the money for fancy pants vacations then don't go at all! Stop putting more loans on your credit cards! Wake up America!