Thoughts on the future of Sharm

[boulderjohn]

I am writing as someone who knows very little about the area and who was strongly considering a Red Sea trip in the near future. If anything I say reveal that ignorance, I will be pleased to be corrected.

When people I know talk of trips to the Red Sea, they think of Egypt. They do not think of Saudi Arabia, even though the two countries have about equal access, and even though both countries are ostensibly on friendly terms with us. I assume it is the presence of Islamic law in Saudi Arabia that makes the difference. A couple of years ago I chanced upon an article about how Saudi Arabia was trying to beef up dive tourism, and the article said a stumbling block was those laws, including especially laws regarding women. I just did a quick search and found an article that suggests that things haven't changed. When we talked about the article in our shop, we joked about how absurd it would be for us to try to sell a trip there. We laughed about having to supply neoprene burqas to our women divers. Such a trip was dismissed as absurd.

So, I suspect that if Islamic law similar to that of Saudi Arabia were to be imposed, then there would indeed be a great loss of tourism. If nothing else, there would be no reason to prefer Egypt to Saudi Arabia in that regard.

 

[Tigerman]

Personally I think that diving in the red sea is still going to be an option for tourists as all the egyptians, including the more "extremist ones" realize what kinda capital the tourism feed them. The question is however how employable foreign staff will be and how hard it will be to run a dive center if you are a foreigner. Not because of the current lack of tourists, but because of the kinda adjustment they might force onto foreign businesses down there..

Whet it comes to the diving in the red sea (atleast when I was there in late june) its better than ever and we found anything from schooling barracuda and manta rays to cobia and SAILFISH
Man was that a nice un-crowded two weeks. Good for me, bad for business..

 

[Tigerman]

...
and "terrorist acts" underway across the world from Libya to Oslo
...

Just to make one thing PERFECTLY clear, what happened in Oslo and Utøya had NO CONNECTION WHATSOEVER to any muslim or otherwise known terrorist group but was the work of a native psychopathic norwegian who wanted to punish our government and the labour party and their youth organization in particular. Lots of the material in his "manifesto" was taken from other redneck madmen..

 

[Red Sea Leonfish]

what happened in Oslo and Utøya had NO CONNECTION WHATSOEVER to any muslim or otherwise known terrorist group

Agreed. But it was arguably an act of terrism within the conventional definition of the term (e.g. the use of violence or the threat of violence to intimidate or coerce others in order to bring about a desired change in public policy or perception). Whether or not this act was actually related to any Islamic movements (which evidence suggests it was not), the mere suggestion of a link within the popular or other media only adds to the general perception amongst western tourists that Egypt and other arabic countries are becoming less attractive as holiday destinations.

I would add, too, that the international news section of this morning's 7am BBC TV Breakfast News in the UK opened with news of Mubarack's transfer from Sharm-el-Sheikh to Cairo and featured various pictures of protests and disturbances in Cairo.

The general stance taken by most 'political commentators' featured regularly on UK TV is to note the generally positive nature of the Egyptian people's tentative steps towards a fledgling democracy but to add that there are likely to be more disturbances in the short to medium term as the various factions disagree over the distribution of power and wealth (none of which is very encouraging for the tourist industry). :cool2:

 

[Interceptor121]

I have been one of the 'victims' of the new rules when the fact I needed a work permit and the fact I had to leave before Xmas meant I could not get back to work and have been out from Egypt since

But this happened to Sudan where for years there has not been any diving

Without taking anything away from all the people that have invested money in Sharm a person who has been there 20 years ago knows there is a hell of a difference in terms of fish life

Sometimes economical disaster come to the benefit of nature so if there will be 10-20 years of no diving there I am sure when eventually it starts again it will be great

Many times on some dive sites there were more divers than fish that cannot be good to nature

 

[String]

I cant see that. The economic thing is mainly meaning there is far more illegal fishing and other activities that are more detrimental to the reef.

 

[Tigerman]

I cant see that. The economic thing is mainly meaning there is far more illegal fishing and other activities that are more detrimental to the reef.

Speaking of wich, there is a lot of fishing line stuck along the reefs between Anemone City and Shark Observatory unless someone has been there and cleaned it up since the end of June. It was actually to the extent some places that it could pose an entanglement hazard

 

[Crowley]

Yeah my last dive in Ras Mohamed I picked up a bunch of fresh fishing line off Shark Reef - the big school of snapper there is just ripe for the plucking. I've previously seen fishermen trailing lines in the area on the way to the legitimate dive sites, but Shark obs is accessible by road and if you have enough line it would be an easy catch.

Also I've seen empty dive boats moored up on the way to Thistlegorm and for sure they are fishing - I assume illegally but since the owners and captains have no other work to do then I guess they will take what they can.

And there is more fighting in Cairo... and another million man protest planned for the 12th... Please please please, Egypt, fix yourselves. I know I'm not important here but I really really don't want to leave....

C.

 

[divebunnie]

With you on that one Crowley... I'm not ready to leave just yet.

And the fishing line between Anenome City and Shark Observatory is indeed awful. I saw it there last summer and there was so much, that I didn't know where to start... I could have spent hours gathering up line. Apparently it is from the police who patrol the National Park.. they sit there at night fishing. Hmmm. Well that is what I was told last year.

Everything that we are witnessing at the moment is just breaking my heart, people trampling on the reef, the events up in Dahab, people at each others' throats in defense of their own ideals. I have seen a colleague plaster the CDWS facebook pages with insults, which I must admit made me look at him in quite a different light. I have seen equally insulting comments written back.. and it is all so unnecessary. Let's hope things do settle down eventually. And I too hope for a peaceful Egypt all around.

I guess only time will tell. In the meantime I plan to get our adopted cat chipped, so she can come too, and have not bought anything new, just in case we do have to say "Sayonara" to a fantastic phase in our lives.

 

[Crowley]

Going back a few posts to Tigerman, boulderjohn and Doubler - and please - I do not want this to turn into a religious/terrorist debate again but from a westerner's perspective - and after my "blog" during the revolution and shark attacks when I had nothing else to do, I have received a fair number of queries about safety both in the water and in the streets. When people see "fighting in Egypt" reported on the news they feel uncomfortable visiting. Clearly from my perspective this is not true, because I have no fear for my safety whatsoever, but then I live here, I follow the Egyptian news and therefore have a much broader understanding of the situation from a foreigner's perspective, rather than just the select newsworthy snippets that are printed in the "western" media. I can tell everybody: it's perfectly safe here...

An analogy would be - how about a holiday in Iraq? or Pakistan? How about Northern Ireland? Serbia? Bosnia? Actually most of these countries are perfectly safe for foreigners... but if you stray into the wrong area you are in for a whole world of trouble. How about South Central Los Angeles? The problem is that all people in Europe and America see is the headline about fighting - and it doesn't apply to the whole country. I understand how that looks, because I don't really want to have a holiday in Iraq, but my best friend is Serbian, and now I understand what's going on there, I'd like to visit someday.

When it comes to the installation of religious government - for sure this will have a huge impact on tourism. No alcohol and all women must wear some sort of covering in public? Pfft nobody will come unless they are already devoutly Muslim. I was hoping Sharm would learn some lessons from the drop in tourism but apparently, it hasn't. Prices are still on the up, and this is driving people away, but still the situation deteriorates. Why? Well, probably because tourism doesn't really matter to the people in power. Does the Saudi government give a toss about dive tourism? Of course not, because actually tourism is insignificant next the the price of oil. Did they care about the environmental destruction caused by their recent gas exploration and drilling projects? Of course not. Does anybody in power care that building a bridge from Sharm to Saudi will destroy one of the most amazing ecosystems on the planet? Pfft - why should anybody care because building a bridge that connect an increasingly Islamic Africa to the Holy Land without the need for flying or passing through Israel will generate vastly more money than any amount of snorkel boats can accumulate in a lifetime.

Hundreds of thousands of people will be left unemployed and starving but this doesn't apparently matter to the American or British governments who've spent trillions of dollars waging war against countries they don't understand but perceive as a threat so why should it matter to the Saudi, or Egyptian, or even Israeli governments, whose citizens have recently been demonstrating about the high cost of living for the normal person, while the powermongers sip expensive champagne and hope the proletariat won't notice.

The almighty dollar - or potentially, since the US lost it's AAA credit rating, the almighty Chinese Yuan - is more powerful than any of the gods that various world populations worship - I mean - look at Saudi's reasoning for building a bridge from Africa to the Middle East - the money will be recouped from the tolls charged on Muslim pilgrims. How supremely cynical is that? Using the religious beliefs of poor people to make money!?

As always, it boils down to short-term gain and not long-term understanding. If an oil field was discovered under the pyramids, do you think for a second they would remain standing if dollars (or Yuan) could be made from razing them to the ground and making a big hole there instead?

Hmmm - as always I got started on a post and it ended up in a rant - perhaps a reflection of my growing frustration with a world in which the one true god has become money, power and greed.

As for Sharm - well, like Divebunnie, I've adopted a stray cat - well - more of a mountain lion than a cat, actually, and yes, I'm going to get her cut and chipped so at least one poor small creature will have a good life and not get thrown to the wolves.

Happy days folks - visit Egypt and enjoy it while you still can!

Crowley