Tourism workers in Egypt ... between the fire of Corona and the impact of stopping tourist activity

Hassan Al-Masry - Al-Jazeera Net

"Most of the employees working in the country have salaries and allowances on a monthly basis, but we are not allowed to do that." This is what Muhammad, who works as a tour guide in Aswan governorate, south of Egypt, says.

Muhammad - who preferred not to give his full name - is like thousands of workers in the tourism and archeological sector affected by the Corona pandemic, which caused the stopping of the movement of tourism and aviation in the country, and thus stopping the livelihood of many families who were counting on the presence of tourists.

"Since the decision to prohibit flying, the curfew and everything is stopped, a disaster is the worst since the January 25, 2011 revolution in which the country's tourism movement stopped, which is what we are currently suffering from and we need state assistance," Mohamed says in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net. By law, they are not allowed to work in other professions, nor are there any privileges for them despite the importance of their role in beautifying the country's image and helping to support the national economy through the hard currency that comes from tourists.

He pointed out that they are the first to be affected by the Corona virus, especially as the spread of tourism is linked to the security situation and the state of stability, which they have suffered from throughout the past period since the accident of the Russian plane that caused the cessation of foreign tourism to Egypt, including what affected the tourism sector in a big way, so that the Corona virus will stop and stop their activities Completely, demanding that there be decisions in their favor especially that his work is suspended like the rest of the profession.

The repercussions of the stopping of tourism
The number of workers in the tourism sector reaches about 10 thousand guides, according to the Union of Tourist Guides, where they suffer from the repercussions of the stoppage of tourism and aviation, which was expressed by the Ministry of Planning and Development in a statement on April 13 last, where Minister Hala Al-Saeed expected revenues to fall Tourism sector in the current fiscal year 2019-2020 to $ 11 billion instead of the $ 16 billion previously expected.

Although the head of the tour guides, Hassan Al-Nahleh, raised a distress to President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in front of the Attorney General’s office to request the payment of benefits to them from the state on April 15th, the president was satisfied with talking about providing support to the tourism sector, and the government made a number of decisions along the lines of Dropping the real estate tax for a period of 6 months on hotels and tourist establishments, postponing payment of any dues due to it for three months, and studying the central bank to provide financing for tourist and hotel establishments.

Hassan Al-Nahleh said during his remarks on the Facebook communication site that the conditions of the tour guides should be taken into consideration and material support provided to them and workers in the sector, especially as the tourism sector is almost stalled amid continuous suffering for 7 years, praising the parliamentarian, Dr. Mohamed Abdel-Ghani, by issuing a briefing request to the Ministry of Tourism This May 7 to demand the disbursement of benefits to workers in the tourism sector. 

Searching for financial support
"No financial support was provided, even by way of loans that can be obtained from banks," according to Hussein (a damaged tourist guide).

Hussein told Al-Jazeera Net that when he tried to go to the bank in order to obtain a loan to help him and his family’s life and face the repercussions of the Corona virus, he was surprised by many of the difficulties he faced, which is the bank’s request to provide proof of monthly wages from the company he works in, which is not possible It is because they work today, which means changing his monthly return and his instability, and when he tried to persuade the bank employee to do so, his request was rejected until he fulfilled the presentation of the items of his monthly salary.

He pointed out that there must be facilities provided by the authorities concerned with tourism and officials to help workers in the stalled tourism sector, because in light of the continuing Corona crisis and the absence of income for workers in the sector, the situation will be difficult on the financial level, especially for workers in tourism within the provinces, many of which depend on tourism And monuments such as Sharm el-Sheikh, Luxor and Aswan.

It is worth noting that a decision was issued by the Hotel Establishments Chamber on May 6 this year to operate hotels at 25% of the capacity inside them, with an increase of 50% after two weeks, provided that the implementation of the decisions will be effective from May 15, according to health conditions and rules that I have specified such as disinfection and sterilization And wear masks, medical gloves and more.

It also stated in the decisions to prevent the open buffet system, to cancel night activities and parties, to prevent the delivery of hookah, and to allocate a floor to the hotel's quarantine, provided that the distances between the tables inside the restaurants are taken into account.

For his part, the tourism expert, Bassem Ahmed, explained that the return of domestic tourism would work to reduce the losses of some workers in the tourism sector, and reduce layoffs in the sector, which has been bleeding for years.

Ahmed expected that the operation of foreign tourism will be the first of next June, in conjunction with the announcement by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on Thursday about the lifting of the ban and coexistence with Corona after the upcoming Eid Al Fitr during his TV statements.