With the decrease in their numbers and the death of one of them .. Egypt receives tourists despite the Corona virus

Abdullah Hamed - Cairo

In the early days of the appearance of the Coronavirus in China, the number of tourists from China to Egypt gradually decreased, according to tourism operators and related activities.

Ahmed, who is a tourist guide working in Luxor in the south, says that the city's tourism was severely affected by the shortage of Chinese tourists, who have been credited with the recovery of tourism in Egypt since 2016 after the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Egypt.

The number of people infected with Egypt with the virus reached 55 cases, one of whom died in Hurghada on the Red Sea, a German tourist.

Ahmed assures Al Jazeera Net that the shortage also included tourists from Europe and America, in conjunction with the increasing announcement of injuries in various countries of the world, and activities dependent on tourism, such as restaurants, were more affected than open tourist attractions, according to the owner of a restaurant in Luxor.

According to visitors to archaeological sites in Luxor and Aswan in the south, the number of visitors decreased with the increase in the number of infections worldwide and the announcement by a number of countries of the arrival of their citizens infected with the virus while they were in Egypt.

A tour of Al-Jazeera Net in Egypt's most famous archaeological site, the Pyramids, revealed the decline of foreign visitors.

Flights
Air traffic between Egypt, Kuwait and Oman has stopped, but EgyptAir announced the end of last month that flights between Egypt and China, the new homeland of the epidemic, will be resumed, and then adjourned the decision until the middle of this month.

Two days ago, a plane carrying 165 Chinese, who had undergone rigorous medical examination tests, arrived at Cairo Airport, according to official statements, which sparked a storm of criticism on social media.

In an attempt to reassure the tourists, Health Minister Hala Zayed visited the Karnak Temple in Luxor, accompanied by Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled Al-Anani and other officials, and stressed that tourism is "safe", and asked the workers to follow preventive health methods.

Officials praised the high turnout of tourists from all countries of the world to see the monuments in Luxor.

Before these repercussions, incoming tourism represented 15% of Egypt's gross domestic product, and less than three million Egyptians are associated with tourism activity, while more than 300,000 are employed directly by it, according to official data.

The share of the private sector reached about 98% of tourism activity, which achieved about 12.6 billion dollars in the 2018-2019 fiscal year.

Precautionary measures
The expectations of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism a few months ago that the sector would achieve a growth of 30% this year, exceeding the previous year’s number of tourists, which is 12 million tourists.

During the recent meeting of the Board of Directors of the Tourism Revitalization Authority, it was decided to continue the promotional activities carried out by the Commission because the situation is "temporary".

The Ministry of Tourism notified the Egyptian Federation of Tourist Chambers and the Hotel Chamber of the necessity to circulate the publication of the decisions taken by the Higher Committee of the Council of Ministers, which obliges hotels and tourist shops to quickly inform the Ministry of Health of any cases of suspicion, and the necessity of contracting hotels and tourist shops with trained and highly qualified medical teams.

The Minister of Environment decided to form a central operations room to monitor visitors and tourists' demand for nature reserves, work to reduce overcrowding and continuous communication with the Ministry of Health.

Former member of the Chamber of Tourism Companies Hassan Abdel Salam said that tourism is going in Egypt naturally, stressing that the country does not prevent tourists from coming.

He added that the necessary medical procedures are followed as a precaution to ensure the safety of the tourist, then allow him to practice his tour of tourism naturally.

Abdel Salam denied the occurrence of canceling hotel reservations or any tourism companies laying off their workers, pointing to the existence of strict medical procedures in tourism establishments in coordination with the Ministry of Health, and warned against circulating false information.

Tourism continues
A member of the Chamber of Hotel Establishments, Sami Suleiman, pointed out that an accurate assessment of the impact will take place early next month, with the onset of the summer, pointing out that it is not possible to assess the future of tourism in the long run currently in Egypt with the spread of Corona.

Soliman denied taking any measures that affect tourism in Egypt, such as banning the reception of tourists, stressing not to cancel any reservations or layoffs.

He pointed out that he is making his statements while he is present among a tourist delegation in the Egyptian city of Nuweiba, stressing that things are going naturally and will improve with the coming of summer.

On the other hand, President of the Chamber of Tourism Companies Hossam Al-Shaer said in press statements that there is a decrease between 70% and 80% in new bookings for Egypt during this period, compared to the same period last year due to Corona, denying any cancellations in the current bookings.

A crisis committee was formed of members of the tourist chambers and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to keep in constant contact in order to follow the developments.

The Chamber of Tourism has allocated 26 trainers who travel in all tourist governorates to follow up the hotel workers and train them in the preventive measures that must be followed.