Fed up in Sharm El Sheikh

[macrobubble]

Agreed!
If you do major business on Intros and DSDs then the decline of regular tourists and the reluctance of tour operators to sell or even allow any diving activity will have an impact.
Here in Dahab Intros and DSDs are not the main rainmaker for most centers for lack of big hotels. As you know we have mostly small centers in small hotels, except for Orca, Sinai Divers, Sub Aqua and Extra Divers. Maybe Planet Divers fall into the same category. In that regards the situation in Sharm is very different!

But still I believe that the recent attacks, whatever their impact, mask problems in other areas. It is very convenient for the authorities to shift all blame for a decline of the diving industry to this factor and thereby ignoring the consequences their decisions in other areas have caused. I think we are looking at a systematic problem with mid- and long term consequences.

 

[tacky]

I think macrobubble here touches some of what might be the problem - the dive industry in SeS and Hurghada seems to be relying heavily on fresh divers.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Ayisha]

It would be interesting to know if there is a profound decrease in the numbers of people entering other areas of Egypt in general and Sharm specifically - or if similar numbers of people are entering but staying away from the dive shops.

 

[macrobubble]

From what I see and hear and from what instructors and owners tell me, there is a decline in the number of divers at least in Sharm, Dahab and Hurghada. Here in Dahab at least 4 centers closed over a period of 1 1/2 years:
Sea & C
Alf Leila´s Diving
Barakuda Diving Center
DahabTecDivers
Three of them definitely for lack of business.

Speaking with instructors and seeing what I saw at the dive sites, there was definitely less diving going on this year than the last. Last year during high season, if you came to Moray Garden in the south later than 9:30 you couldn´t find space in one of the restaurants - this season they were only half full. Same for Canyon and Blue Hole. If they were full, it was because of centers or many snorkelers from Sharm on a day trip to Dahab. On top the season was shorter. I was at Canyon yesterday, and if you subtract the divers from Sharm there were not many from Dahab. My group had the Canyon for themselves during our dive. The day before we were only one of two dive centers in the restaurant in the south. So there is a problem that has nothing to do with sharks!

Passing through Sharm mid-october and seeing more than half of all the boats moored at Travco around 12:00 o´clock indicates to me that also in Sharm the season was not what it used to be.

The situation in Hurghada seems to be difficult as well, if maybe for different reasons. Many Hotels have been converted to AI over the last years to attract east-european tourists. Many divers, actually all I spoke to, will never go back to Hurghada to stay in one of these places. Loud, heavily drinking and partying, obnoxious russians drive away the longterm customers. These AI-guests "don´t even spend 20 $ for an intro" to quote a divecenter owner from Hurghada.
Mind you - I have nothing against russians! I´ve met lots of them travelling through Russia and they are the most hospitable and warm people I know. But I believe those that we meet here do (fortunately) not represent their countrymen as a whole! They behave terrible and egotistical, think that money buys everything, have no regard for the environment and the culture (topless sunbathing, dress code etc.).

Put on top of that the ever increasing pressure on foreigners from the authorities, the financial crisis, the developement of cheap east-asian destinations, the in divers circles well known decline in reef health and fish population in the Red Sea and you have a mix that slowly but steadily nibbles away at our business. Then you throw the shark attacks into this mix and it spells major problems for all of us.

I say it again: the diving industry in Egypt faces a structural and fundamental crisis! We can not go on and pretend things will continue to be like they have been for almost three decades. The percentage of divers in tourism has shrunk from almost 90% to maybe 10-20%. Subtract from this number all those that come from the former eastern block and you will probably find that from western europe we are getting less divers than 20 years ago. Also more and more of the experienced divers go on safariboats (I think we have more than 100 now in Egypt). All of these factors combined spell trouble for land based operations.

It´s just my opinion - I could be wrong...

 

[Ayisha]

Passing through Sharm mid-october and seeing more than half of all the boats moored at Travco around 12:00 o´clock indicates to me that also in Sharm the season was not what it used to be.

I was in Sharm for 4 days in mid-October and it looked incredibly busy to me. Everywhere we went was PACKED with tourists. There were so many dive boats, all trying to get in and out at the same time. Going to Ras Mohammed, we had to wait about 40 minutes for our boat to get it's turn to come in and load us and then to leave the dock. There were multiple boats at the dive sites. I had read about how busy it was and was prepared to see and deal with that, but I was still shocked about the extent of crowding. I was happy, however, that I was on a large, comfy boat each time and had some space.

If my short experience would be considered to be slower than usual, I can't imagine what it would usually be like and would not want to be part of that. The amount of dive business that I saw would blow away most tourist destinations in other parts of the world. The area was so supersaturated with dive shops, I was amazed at how it was that sustainable.

 

[tacky]

October is high season anyway, temperatures cooling down but water still warm. You feel the hit stronger in low seasons.

But maybe a good thing is that the less serious shops would disappear and the better ones remaining, attracting experienced divers not scared of the sharks? One could hope.

 

[peterbj7]

Interesting reading what is going on in an area I've visited countless times in the past, but not now for some years. Here in Belize in the western Caribbean we don't have the shark issue that you have, but visitor numbers are seriously depleted on what they used to be. Dive shops have to be content with 2-4 divers, even at historically busy times of the year. A number of dive centres have closed and more will undoubtedly follow, but I don't know of any that is doing more than covering its direct costs. Most aren't even doing that but are living on capital, hoping it will "pick up". I fear it won't. Sharks notwithstanding, I think the core problem is that our customer base is hurting financially, and either can't afford to travel at all or can't afford to spend money once they've arrived. The retail dive industry is in for a major shake-up.

 

[scubafanatic]

I was in Sharm for 4 days in mid-October and it looked incredibly busy to me. Everywhere we went was PACKED with tourists. There were so many dive boats, all trying to get in and out at the same time. Going to Ras Mohammed, we had to wait about 40 minutes for our boat to get it's turn to come in and load us and then to leave the dock. There were multiple boats at the dive sites. I had read about how busy it was and was prepared to see and deal with that, but I was still shocked about the extent of crowding. I was happy, however, that I was on a large, comfy boat each time and had some space.

If my short experience would be considered to be slower than usual, I can't imagine what it would usually be like and would not want to be part of that. The amount of dive business that I saw would blow away most tourist destinations in other parts of the world. The area was so supersaturated with dive shops, I was amazed at how it was that sustainable.

...not that I could afford (or justify saving up for) a trip to the Red Sea, but the reports I've read of diver pressure/overcrowding on dive sites there make me feel much better in that it appears the Red Sea's glory days are long gone and I'm not really missing anything, especially at the high cost for me of a trip there.

 

[scubafanatic]

Interesting reading what is going on in an area I've visited countless times in the past, but not now for some years. Here in Belize in the western Caribbean we don't have the shark issue that you have, but visitor numbers are seriously depleted on what they used to be. Dive shops have to be content with 2-4 divers, even at historically busy times of the year. A number of dive centres have closed and more will undoubtedly follow, but I don't know of any that is doing more than covering its direct costs. Most aren't even doing that but are living on capital, hoping it will "pick up". I fear it won't. Sharks notwithstanding, I think the core problem is that our customer base is hurting financially, and either can't afford to travel at all or can't afford to spend money once they've arrived. The retail dive industry is in for a major shake-up.

...agreed, to go-go years of the mid-2000's are dead and buried, certainly for the western world anyway......witness the ongoing debt collapse spreading throughout Europe, with America right behind.....I work in the 401K retirement accounts industry in the USA and all the predictions/projections of how prepared for retirement the average American is are terrifying...and what little the average American does have in their retirement accounts are being depleted by loans/hardship withdrawals to meet today's immediate $ needs......austerity is the new watchword going forward as the western world accelerates it's economic decline....don't look for the good-'ol-days to ever return!

 

[ameneon]

Passing through Sharm mid-october and seeing more than half of all the boats moored at Travco around 12:00 o´clock indicates to me that also in Sharm the season was not what it used to be

I was in Sharm el Sheikh for my first time, during off season, earlier this year and in my opinion even half the boats out are way too many.. I don't see a decline in number of divers there as all bad.