The Egyptian tourism sector is struggling because of the well being disaster in Covid-19. Within the Royal Valley, 650 km south of Cairo, a whole financial system is collapsing in a rustic the place tourism, the first supply of earnings, accounts for 13% of GDP.
From his sizzling air balloon, Captain Kareem has flown proudly over the Valley of the Kings for 11 years. In early October, the Egyptian authorities once more approved tourism professionals to restart their operations at the start of the season. However the vacationers should not there.
“In the mean time, enterprise shouldn’t be good. Final yr, in the course of the vacationer season, 35 sizzling air balloons took off on the similar time. Usually this one receives 16 folks, however there we’re solely 8 ”, regrets Captain Kareem.
And that day it was Arsany and his household, the Egyptians who lived in Dubai, who got here to admire the view. “We’re fortunate that there should not many individuals, however it’s not good for our nation, as a result of there’s much less tourism and fewer inflow of cash for the nation, he states. -He. I hope the coronavirus disaster is over quickly”
Often crowded, the sphinx-lined esplanade on the entrance to the Luxor temple is surprisingly empty. Within the souk, three of the 4 retailers are closed. “Right now there’s the big Egyptian market in Karnak. I solely take 10 kilos as a result of I am not busy. “A sublime approach for this driver to say he is hungry. And that he breaks his costs to have the ability to deal with his youngsters. “I don’t work. How can I feed them and provides them cash to ship them to highschool? Enterprise shouldn’t be good due to coronavirus. Everybody stays there, no enterprise, no work.”
2020 can be the yr of the resumption of tourism in Egypt after a ten-year decline in attendance because of the 2011 revolution and the assaults that shook the nation in the course of the decade. For Amr El Cheikh, a tour operator who works all through the area, it’s a large blow: “Prior to now, all the pieces was good. Now it is a large disaster. Everybody right here is struggling after the European borders have been closed. ”
Though Egypt is responding pretty effectively to the Covid-19 epidemic, its dependence on tourism might exacerbate the rising social disaster.
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