Thoughts on the future of Sharm

[Tigerman]

As for how its advertised, here in Norway its advertised about the same way and the same prices as normal around this time of the year. The problem is of course as macrobubble pointed out that the media dont paint a very nice picture.
They blow it up whenever theres the slightest unrest and dont mention it with the smallest comment when its over..
I wouldnt bet my salary that more than half the planned flights actually leave due to peoples impressions from the tabloid media.
If I had the time to go this fall I would, but unfortunately it seems like the 2 weeks I got to spend there in June is all Ill get for diving holidays this year

 

[Red Sea Leonfish]

There's a programme on BBC2 in the UK at the moment called "How Facebook Changed the World". Despite the glib title, it is actually a fairly well reasoned narrative of the Egyptian revolution focusing on the use of digital media to mobilise social change.

If anything, it is a fairly upbeat narrative focusing largely on the negative aspects of the Mubarack regime and generally supportive of the Egyptian populist movement.

However, it does mean that, once again, prime time viewing on the BBC consists of repeat footage of water cannons on the streets of Cairo and violent clashes in Tahir Square. Between this and the annual litany of 9/11 documentaries and dramatisations, British TV seems fairly intent on raking over the supposed consequences of Arabic disillusionment over and over again.

 

[boulderjohn]

There's a programme on BBC2 in the UK at the moment called "How Facebook Changed the World". Despite the glib title, it is actually a fairly well reasoned narrative of the Egyptian revolution focusing on the use of digital media to mobilise social change.

I actually have fairly high hopes about this.

Earlier this year a UCLA student posted something on Youtube that she thought would be pretty funny and get some good laughs. That was because the circle of her friends thought it was funny, and birds of a feather tend to flock together. The rest of the world did not see it that way. They saw it as a pathetic, racist rant. She was duly horrified by the response and apologized.

The important thing was that the social media she used forced her to see things the way others saw it. Blasted out of her "birds of a feather" crowd, she realized there was a different world out there.

I also think back a number of years ago to when we visited friends in Germany, not far from what used to be the border with East Germany. They told us how when the border was opened people from East Germany came to their town (Einbeck) and openly wept when they saw how plentiful the food was and how well people were living. For decades they had been told in East Germany that they were living in a worker's paradise, and the west was suffering in abject poverty.

FaceBook and other social media break down those barriers of ignorance. Hopefully something good will come about as a result.

 

[mtabor]

well we are leaving for egypt tomorrow. a month in hurghada. we arent worriend, we booked this trip on our own. we cant wait to get there. Ill try and do some more reporting after a couple of weeks. as we plan to go to sharm for some diving as well.

 

[Red Sea Leonfish]

This morning's BBC news' lead international stories are, again, (1) the 9/11 security concerns in the US and (2) tear gas, petrol bombs and flag burning outside the Isreali embassy in Cairo.

Once again, the story in Egypt focuses in the small pockets of what I hope is isolated violence but then goes on to refer to "increasing frustration over the lack of political progress in Egypt" and the "toxic atmosphere" in Egypt. Honestly, the BBC are now calling Egypt "toxic".

I realise that the current protesters in Cairo believe that they have legitimate grievance over the recent acticities of the Isreali security services, but this kind of thing is clearly drawing both national and internation attention away from the movement towards democracy and further damaging Egypt's international reputation.

 

[Crowley]

Thanks for the various replies, especially to those hardy few still brave enough to venture here!

The current anti-Israeli clashes in Cairo are not helpful, but to be rather horribly blunt, if it remains confined to this particular problem, it might not have too much impact on overall tourism. I can imagine scenarios where it might escalate, but I tend to err on the side of pessimism these days and therefore every protest that doesn't end in violence is a positive result.

I still have no Plan B, and so therefore very hopeful that fighting in Cairo and new Egyptian visa regulations won't see me out of a job next month, but the glass is looking increasingly less than half-full at the moment....

Fingers crossed,

C.

 

[Hillmorton Scubie]

It's now 3 months since the last post and the Egyptian election processes have now started. What is your opinion of the future of mass tourism in Egypt, based on the latest political results.

 

[Tigerman]

The results so far is HIGHLY preliminary, and the distribution of candidates for the Egyptian parliament is far from clear, but last I heard it was something like 40%(?) muslim brotherhood, which IF it holds SHOULD mean there will be somewhat of a "balanced" government.
So in short.. Still to many "if"s to say anything for sure..

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

The results so far is HIGHLY preliminary, and the distribution of candidates for the Egyptian parliament is far from clear, but last I heard it was something like 40%(?) muslim brotherhood, which IF it holds SHOULD mean there will be somewhat of a "balanced" government.
So in short.. Still to many "if"s to say anything for sure..

These are the results of the Islamic parties:
Muslim Brotherhood: 48.2%
Salafis: 20.5%
Wasat: 2.4%

 

[Tigerman]

Then, their numbers has increased somewhat after the latest I saw on the news here (MB). Of course neither the MB or the Salafis is very liberal so if they do end up with close to 70% of the votes combined it could get "interesting" with regards to the tourism and the egyptians making a living from it...