50 diving centers close in South Sinai

[Pedro Burrito]

50 diving centers close in South Sinai

CAIRO: More than 50 diving centers in South Sinai’s resorts have halted their activities due to the recession in the tourism sector following suspended European flights to Sharm el-Sheikh, an official source from the diving and marine activities chamber told Youm7 Wednesday.

There are some 130 centers operating in the South Sinai governorate, said the source, adding that some owners decided to close their centers in Sharm el-Sheikh and Dahab cities, to reduce the losses due to the low flow of tourists.

Many of the temporary employees at the centers were dismissed, while some permanent staff were given vacations until the tourism movement was restored to Sharm el-Sheikh city, the source added.

Diving is one of several famous activities in the two South Sinai cities, especially in Dahab, where visitors can witness under waterlandscapes, reefs and colorful fish.

A sharp decrease in the flow of tourists to the city has been reported as consequences of a Russian airliner crash over Sinai late October 2015, killing all 224 passengers and crew on board.

Following the crash, a number of countries, including Russia, ordered the evacuation of their nationals from the resort town and suspended their flights after reports that a bomb might have been the cause.

Tourism Ministry’s economy adviser Adela Ragab recently stated that the number of Russian tourists visiting Egypt in 2015 dropped by 23.9 percent compared to the previous year.

The crash also caused a 4 percent decrease in number of British tourists visited Egypt in 2015 while the number of German tourists who visited Egypt in 2015 increased by 16.4 percent, registering 1.2 million up from 877,000 in 2014, according to Ragab.

Hotel reservations on special occasions like the Christmas and New Year holidays reportedly decreased this year.

A committee investigating the plane accident has not yet determined the reasons behind the crash.

On the other hand, Egypt has launched promotional campaigns to court tourists to the city by providing holiday packages with reduced prices.

Revenues from tourism represent 11.3 percent of Egypt’s gross domestic product (GDP.)

 

[John A Lewis]

It was only a matter of time.

It's speaking volumes that after months, no preliminary on the crash has been released--the authorities MUST know by now what the cause was, they just don't want to acknowledge it. It would further kill the tourist industry in Egypt.

When Russia, Great Britain, France and the US all stated by November 2015 that it was probably a bomb (and an anonymous Egyptian investigator says the same) you can probably safely go with that idea.

Especially when the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)'s Sinai Branch, previously known as Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, claimed responsibility for the incident, which occurred in the vicinity of the Sinai insurgency. ISIL claimed responsibility on Twitter, on video, and in a statement by Abu Osama al-Masri, the leader of the group's Sinai branch. ISIL posted pictures of what it said was the bomb in Dabiq, its online magazine.

 

[Skulmoski]

I am sad to hear this. Hopefully, its slow return to vibrancy will be swift.

GJS

 

[scubadada]

My wife and I just got back from a 2 week land/Nile cruise vacation. Our group was only 10 individuals, the boat carries 60. There were relatively few visitors at any of the sites we visited. Many of the visitors were Egyptians, as it was school break and the government was offering discounts to locals to increase activity. Our Egyptologist has worked for the same company since 2004. He said tourism has been dramatically down since early 2011 and has not significantly increased since. Many of his friends in the tourism business have lost their jobs. With the 2011 uprising, resulting in the fall of Moubarak, the removal of Morsi in 2013, the downing of the Russian airliner in 2015, and numerous other, more minor issues, Egypt has not had an opportunity to recover. We felt safe on our visit with the exception of some of the time we were walking around in Cairo on our own. We had an armed security person with our group on our group excursions in Cairo. There is a strong police and military presence all over the Nile Valley and we were escorted by local police on some of our land excursions in Luxor and Aswan. Part of this caution is probably because Egypt can really not afford to have anything major happen to visitors, this might be the coup de grace for tourism. All that being said, we were very glad we chose to visit Egypt, it was the opportunity of a lifetime. If we didn't go now, when would we? Overall, I would recommend a visit to Egypt at this time for anyone other than the very timid. Egypt is very dependent on tourism, at this time they are really suffering.

I am doing back to back liveaboard trips for two weeks at the end of April, beginning of May. At this point, I am confident that I will be safe and enjoy this trip very much. Bad things are happening all over the world, you can't let this completely paralyze you.

 

[Steve_C]

Agree you have to control your timid.

I will also note that world wide the presence of a couple of armed guards do not stop most of the serious attacks on tourists. They just make folks feel safer. Terrorists have the advantage that they can pick the location and timing. Security forces have to try and protect everything. Result is that the terrorists have a numerical advantage unless discovered ahead of time with intel.

 

[scubadada]

Agree you have to control your timid.

I will also note that world wide the presence of a couple of armed guards do not stop most of the serious attacks on tourists. They just make folks feel safer. Terrorists have the advantage that they can pick the location and timing. Security forces have to try and protect everything. Result is that the terrorists have a numerical advantage unless discovered ahead of time with intel.

I never said guards would be effective against terrorist activity. Somebody could blow themselves up anywhere or open fire, even in Paris. They probably do deter less dramatic crimes against tourists and certainly keep the more aggressive vendors under control.

Have you been to this part of the world lately? Just wondered on what you based your comments.

 

[diverLux]

Mud or flood I will be out there in April like every year, probably to El Quseir again, let's see what Last Minute have on offer. Need to fly out of Germany, my home airline have stopped serving Egypt since the beginning of this year.

 

[Pedro Burrito]

70% of Red Sea diving centers out of business

Another article that says...

70% of Red Sea diving centers out of business

CAIRO: One of the famous activities sought after by tourists in Red Sea resorts is fading out after some 70% of around 300 diving centers have reportedly closed their doors due to a recession in the tourism sector, Youm7 reported Sunday.

More than 170 out of 246 licensed diving centers have halted their activities in the Red Sea governorate, former head of the Diving Chamber Ashraf Saleh told Youm7, adding that the activity has been deeply affected by the travel bans imposed by European countries.

Saleh cited a sharp decrease after Russia, the biggest tourist provider to Egypt, banned flights after a Russian airliner crashed over Sinai late October 2015, killing all 224 passengers and crew on board.

“The percentage of the working centers does not exceed 10 percent,” Saled said, adding that the flight suspensions by Russia are “desolation” to the tourism sector.

Youm7 previously reported that more than 50 diving centers in South Sinai’s resorts have also halted their activities due to the low tourists flow on Sharm el-Sheikh and Dahab cities.

Both London and Moscow have stated that they believe a bomb was the cause of the October crash. A committee of international investigators tasked to declare the cause of the crash stated in late 2015 that the cause was likely an “in-air break-up” and that a loud sound is heard immediately before the crash, but has not released a final report of the incident.

Cairo has not yet admitted a bomb was the cause, however, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi recently implied in a speech that the plane was downed by terrorists.

Tourism Ministry economic adviser Adela Ragab recently stated that the number of Russian tourists visiting Egypt in 2015 dropped by 23.9 percent compared to the previous year.

The crash also caused a 4 percent decrease in number of British tourists visited Egypt in 2015 while the number of German tourists who visited Egypt in 2015 increased by 16.4 percent, registering 1.2 million up from 877,000 in 2014, according to Ragab.

Hotel reservations on special occasions like the Christmas and New Year holidays reportedly decreased this year.

Revenues from tourism represent 11.3 percent of Egypt’s gross domestic product (GDP.)

 

[octopus adrift]

Well.. i live in Sharm.. the owner of the dive center i work for are discussing about closing or not..
Hopefully they will relocate me in Marsa Alam since they still have a dive center there and looks like they can still survive there...

I cannot see an end for all this.. i don not kow how long it will take to get back some toursts...

 

[deeper thoughts]

Egypt was one of our must go destinations, sad but not anymore