now tourism is dead!
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inventor
Contributor
I don't understand the part about,
"Travellers should be aware the new visa regulations do not apply to those travelling in groups."
Does that mean like for Perillo tours kind of groups?
"Travellers should be aware the new visa regulations do not apply to those travelling in groups."
Does that mean like for Perillo tours kind of groups?
ScubaSteve
Wow.....what a DB
Definitely the sign of a government that has no clue what they are doing.
I doubt this is true. I can not find any reliable source of info supporting this. I also searched the cabinet's website for anything related but couldn't find anything.
OP
macrobubble
Contributor
It is true but it is also true that Egypt does not really have a VISA on arrival
It is just a way to charge people $15 for entry, the official have a paper system and can't check anything
Unless there is a proper system (which Egypt really does not have) there is no point creating more burocracy around it
They should create an electronic system to charge the $15 before you leave so you can skip the queue
Also Sinai region a.k.a. sharm airport does not require a VISA for entry for certain countries
It is just a way to charge people $15 for entry, the official have a paper system and can't check anything
Unless there is a proper system (which Egypt really does not have) there is no point creating more burocracy around it
They should create an electronic system to charge the $15 before you leave so you can skip the queue
Also Sinai region a.k.a. sharm airport does not require a VISA for entry for certain countries
I heard about this in conversation earlier this evening so thought I would do some checking. English language Arabic press are reporting the same thing. An example from Ahram online, which I have generally come to enjoy reading.
This is for sure a move intended to prevent foreigners from entering the country in order so seek employment - and this would include the dive staff, of course. On general principles, that's fair enough - when I worked in Thailand I had to fly back to the UK to apply for my business visa, which can only be done in the country of origin, in order to apply for a work permit.
"Tourists in groups" may be a concession to package holiday tourists - for example, Thompson Holidays flies a plane-load of people to Sharm which constitutes a "group", and they'll mostly be doing stuff organised by the hotel, most of them won't stray very far from Sharm (or Hurghada, or wherever), and if they do it will be on trips organised by the hotels who will arrange all the visas and ensure the "guests" have very little freedom of choice in what's offered, but then most of the tourists in Sharm don't need that. They book a package holiday and tick some boxes along the way - visited pyramids, check, rode camel, check, got drunk and vomited on the dance floor, check, sat on the toilet for 2 days with "Pharaoh's Revenge", check, and so on and so forth - and this forms the bulk of what tourism has become these days.
This is only my own interpretation of what the "group travel" thing means, but given that this sort of package holiday forms the bulk of the tourist industry in Egypt, I can't imagine that the military council would simply abandon the income the country makes from this. I would be willing to bet that various members of the council have vested interests in the continued supply of tourists to their various business enterprises. The former government may well have been corrupt (allegedly), but a lot of people also got rich quite legitimately (allegedly), including some of the senior figures in the military (allegedly).
The Labour department officials visited a number of dive centres last week, checking passports and work permits, but I've not heard of their being any repercussions over this. Until recently, renewing visas and work permits has been pretty easy, although no new work permits are being issued at the moment. They are renewable and transferable - if one staff member leaves a replacement could have that work permit transferred to them, but you can't get a new one.
I don't begrudge the right of any country to ensure it's foreign visitors are working legitimately, but it doesn't have to be such a pain in the butt, and I don't think they'll insist on pre-approved visas for package tourists.
My 2 piasters.
C.
This is for sure a move intended to prevent foreigners from entering the country in order so seek employment - and this would include the dive staff, of course. On general principles, that's fair enough - when I worked in Thailand I had to fly back to the UK to apply for my business visa, which can only be done in the country of origin, in order to apply for a work permit.
"Tourists in groups" may be a concession to package holiday tourists - for example, Thompson Holidays flies a plane-load of people to Sharm which constitutes a "group", and they'll mostly be doing stuff organised by the hotel, most of them won't stray very far from Sharm (or Hurghada, or wherever), and if they do it will be on trips organised by the hotels who will arrange all the visas and ensure the "guests" have very little freedom of choice in what's offered, but then most of the tourists in Sharm don't need that. They book a package holiday and tick some boxes along the way - visited pyramids, check, rode camel, check, got drunk and vomited on the dance floor, check, sat on the toilet for 2 days with "Pharaoh's Revenge", check, and so on and so forth - and this forms the bulk of what tourism has become these days.
This is only my own interpretation of what the "group travel" thing means, but given that this sort of package holiday forms the bulk of the tourist industry in Egypt, I can't imagine that the military council would simply abandon the income the country makes from this. I would be willing to bet that various members of the council have vested interests in the continued supply of tourists to their various business enterprises. The former government may well have been corrupt (allegedly), but a lot of people also got rich quite legitimately (allegedly), including some of the senior figures in the military (allegedly).
The Labour department officials visited a number of dive centres last week, checking passports and work permits, but I've not heard of their being any repercussions over this. Until recently, renewing visas and work permits has been pretty easy, although no new work permits are being issued at the moment. They are renewable and transferable - if one staff member leaves a replacement could have that work permit transferred to them, but you can't get a new one.
I don't begrudge the right of any country to ensure it's foreign visitors are working legitimately, but it doesn't have to be such a pain in the butt, and I don't think they'll insist on pre-approved visas for package tourists.
My 2 piasters.
C.
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Beat me to it. The latest moronic decision by someone in power.
There is a rumour this starts on the 20th. Looking at the breakdown of people in the places i work we actually get a majority of independent travellers NOT package tours and that number has been increasing. This latest moronic change could instantly kill that market and will certainly kill the last minute deals and so on that are proving very very popular.
Also, we've done some asking but even the official channels are "dont know". That issue is the sinai exemption. Has that suddenly been withdrawn so you need the visa for sinai too (which means advance booking) or is it the same as usual and its only the $15 one that has to be got in advance. The MoT didn't have a clue about that.
Even if the exemption still exists then it'll prove impossible for people doing Ras Mo/Pyramids/Luxor/Thistlegorm and so on if they dont get one before their trip.
I can also see the embassy struggling to do the visas in a sensible time frame - given the staffing levels and normal workload how are they going to cope when suddenly getting 100,000+ extra visa requests a day? I can see getting one taking a VERY long time!
My view is sort of its carrying on the "blame the foreigners for all Egypts problem" theme. Egyptians HATE criticism and cant stand it at all. I know a LOT of them who are convinced once all the foreigners are gone (yes the legal ones too) the place will suddenly be a magical paradise.
As for the visa things, friend of mine just got a 12 month renewal on a 3 month NON-renewable visa in el turd. So im not exactly sure what "non-renewable" means any more!
Amusingly, the Ahram article is right next to one saying that MoT figures show that this years tourist numbers are 40% down. So clearly restricting entry is really going to help!
There is a rumour this starts on the 20th. Looking at the breakdown of people in the places i work we actually get a majority of independent travellers NOT package tours and that number has been increasing. This latest moronic change could instantly kill that market and will certainly kill the last minute deals and so on that are proving very very popular.
Also, we've done some asking but even the official channels are "dont know". That issue is the sinai exemption. Has that suddenly been withdrawn so you need the visa for sinai too (which means advance booking) or is it the same as usual and its only the $15 one that has to be got in advance. The MoT didn't have a clue about that.
Even if the exemption still exists then it'll prove impossible for people doing Ras Mo/Pyramids/Luxor/Thistlegorm and so on if they dont get one before their trip.
I can also see the embassy struggling to do the visas in a sensible time frame - given the staffing levels and normal workload how are they going to cope when suddenly getting 100,000+ extra visa requests a day? I can see getting one taking a VERY long time!
My view is sort of its carrying on the "blame the foreigners for all Egypts problem" theme. Egyptians HATE criticism and cant stand it at all. I know a LOT of them who are convinced once all the foreigners are gone (yes the legal ones too) the place will suddenly be a magical paradise.
As for the visa things, friend of mine just got a 12 month renewal on a 3 month NON-renewable visa in el turd. So im not exactly sure what "non-renewable" means any more!
Amusingly, the Ahram article is right next to one saying that MoT figures show that this years tourist numbers are 40% down. So clearly restricting entry is really going to help!
OP
macrobubble
Contributor
Yes, spies are known to disguise themselves as a diver on a safariboat.
They wouldn´t dream of coming to Egypt as a member of an embassy, as a cultural attaché, for example.
Or posing as a businessman. No, they usually pretent to be a tourist in Hurghada or Sharm.
I´m sure, it will be absolutely impossible for spies to enter Egypt now!
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