Egypt Tourism badly hit by unrest

Egypt’s luxurious Nile hotels that once lit up Cairo’s skyline wear a deserted look these days. Even Giza, usually bustling during the summer months with large tour groups here to see the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx, is relatively quiet – as tourists stay away amid renewed political unrest in the Arab country.

The sector – a key component of Egypt’s economy – suffered a sharp downturn in July as protests broke out following the ouster of President Morsi with revenues from tourism dropping by almost half to about $459 million compared with the same period last year, according to the country’s ministry of tourism. And most industry observers indicate August was as bad, if not worse, as a curfew imposed in several parts of the country also impacted.

“There is no work at all, we should be operating at 95% occupancy during this season and we haven’t even reached 15%,” said Mohamed Fawaz, an operations manager at Cairo-based One World Tourism Company.

Arab and Western tourists usually flock to Egypt during the summer. But violent clashes in the past two months between the country’s security forces and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood have lead to large cancellations this season with several countries issuing travel warnings for Egypt.