Egypt, the death of tourism, six years on | France 2 | la suite

In 2008, the French voted Egypt their favourite tourist destination. 600,000 of them went there every year and tour operators vied with each other in their offers all over the country. We accompanied several specialists in the country who were still discovering new circuits, either in the white desert or along the Nile. One revolution, one coup d’état and several assassinations later, the French have deserted Egypt. Since 2011, Egypt has been suffering its worst ever economic crisis. The tourist industry, third most important source of revenue, has collapsed. There’s been a 70% drop in visitors to archeological sites. The beginning of 2014 has been ill omened: on February 16, four South-Korean tourists were killed in a suicide attack. It’s the first time since 2009 that tourists have been targeted. How are the operators trying to attract the tourists back? How is the country dealing with this economic disaster? To find out, we set out to meet the men and women whom we filmed in 2008. We took a cruise ship. At the time, there were 350 boats sailing the Nile. Today, there are around thirty. And yet, travel agencies are knocking down their prices. The rare travellers we meet on the boats and the archeological sites are Germans, Russians, English. There are few French. The reason they’ve deserted Egypt is that the Foreign Ministry has strongly advised tourists not to visit the country. On the Egyptian side, there’s an increased charm offensive, especially in the Nile valley, which has been spared the confrontations. After a lull of six months, the French are beginning to return to the steamboat of a major French tour company. However, for the independents, like Sara, who rents eight sailboats and offers eco-tourism, the future is highly uncertain. And advice has been firmly against visiting the Red Sea coast ever since the February 16 attack. A few weeks before that terrorist act we had visited those coastal resorts that are so much appreciated for scuba diving, one of the few places where tourists were still coming. They felt they were safe there. Today there is nobody.