Thoughts on the future of Sharm

[Red Sea Shadow]

1 - Are you saying those were democratic societies? I didn´t know the people had the right to elect their leader by a democratic process with with "one man/woman - one vote"...

Of course they had the right to elect their leader!

One final note, and I won't repeat that again: forget ALL about trying to impose the western "values" to our lives. Words like this is not "democratic", a "religious state", etc... are not going to fool us. We will do what we believe appropriate, without the western world's much appreciated "help to a democratic reform".

 

[macrobubble]

We will do what we believe appropriate, without the western world's much appreciated "help to a democratic reform".

Of course!
You have all rights do to so, nobody, at least not me, disputes that.
Just don´t pretent it will be a democratic and free society if you base the principle political and moral values and laws on inflexible religious dogmas.

And this leads us back to the original thoughts about the future of Sharm (and the rest of Egypt).
There will be none! There will be no tourism to speak of, there will be massive unemployment and there will be an increase in poverty (except for a "chosen few", of course). You don´t have enough oil to support a population af 80 million for generations to come from the proceeds of its export. Where do you think Saudi-Arabia would be today without its oil? Or the Iran? Or any arabic nation, for that matter...

I think that effectively ends this discussion. There is nothing more to say...

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Just don´t pretent it will be a democratic and free society if you base the principle political and moral values and laws on inflexible religious dogmas.

And this leads us back to the original thoughts about the future of Sharm (and the rest of Egypt).
There will be none! There will be no tourism to speak of, there will be massive unemployment and there will be an increase in poverty (except for a "chosen few", of course). You don´t have enough oil to support a population af 80 million for generations to come from the proceeds of its export. Where do you think Saudi-Arabia would be today without its oil? Or the Iran? Or any arabic nation, for that matter...

I think that effectively ends this discussion. There is nothing more to say...

The majority here does not need the western democracy, if that's what you want to hear. So we ain't pretending anything.

Saudi and Iran would have been in a much better position if you guys would have left them alone. We will not get caught in the same trap.

The future of Sharm and the rest of Egypt is what we will plan and execute, not what others speculate.

Indeed, that effectively ends this discussion.

 

[macrobubble]

The majority here does not need the western democracy, ...

Thank you for finally clarifying that! It´s interesting, though, that you think you can decide or seem to know "what the majority needs"...

Over and out!

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

It´s interesting, though, that you think you can decide or seem to know "what the majority needs"...

Unlike you, I do NOT speculate. Tahrir on July 29th said it all.

 

[Crowley]

Crowley I guess you need to start a new thread on the thought of tourists coming to Egypt to dive. This one is ruined.

Yes, yes it is, but it's also very interesting!

Meh the religious debate happened, I got stuck in, I think it's a valid discussion - to a point - given that it's a hotly-debated topic that greatly affects the future of the Red Sea, one way or the other. I'm not going to debate my own personal philosophy here but let's say I am well schooled in the matter and religion should play no part in politics. Macrobubble said a good thing when he said that religion provides a moral compass for the direction of society and all major world religions say pretty much the same thing: be excellent to each other, and spread the word of the deity in question. What they don't generally say, except in obscure passage perhaps open to varying interpretations, is "go and slaughter people of the other faith because they go to church every friday, not sunday."

Egypt is in a pivotal position at the moment - the people have their demands - the ordinary, decent people of Egypt. The Army have the power, there are a lot of rich people who made a lot of money under the previous regime who are trying to find some common ground with the next regime. There are clerics heralding a new dawn for Islam in Egypt and there are others who are telling their listeners to be excellent to each other, and find a way forward without fighting.

It would appear that the planned million march for today was postponed, either to the 19th or possibly 26th given that they are both Friday. This is an overriding concern for the foreigners here because if it all kicks off again then pretty much all of the foreign dive staff will have to leave. Of course we are concerned about the country and its citizens but we also have to earn a living in an industry that is really not all that easy to make a full-time living within.

I am not fearful of my safety, but job security is something that any 30-something guy is looking for!

Cheers

C.

 

[mtabor]

Ya i know... I think it is valid discussion as well. Just wasn't the original point

Guess ill see how it is soon enough and if anything has changed in the feel of the country. When we were there in April we were really welcomed by Egyptians. They welcomed us to the "New Egypt" In June pretty much the same thing. I realize Hurghada is a long way off from Alexandria and Cairo.

 

[dbulmer]

My parents are going to Turkey in September.

They wanted to go to Sharm but tour operators here in the UK have increased prices so much that my parents perceived that Turkey offered better value.

I would suggest that rising prices have more impact on tourism in Sharm than the political situation (from the perspective of a tourist contemplating a holiday) because in all honesty most people outside Egypt are too ignorant of the local situation to care.

 

[Tigerman]

The rising prices for the flight and/or stay might be related to less tourists you know.. When volume drop you might need to increase the price just for the business to stay viable.
If I have an airline and know that I will fly with a full aircraft vs a half-full aircraft, that does something to how much I need each passenger to pay to break even.
Another issue is cancelled flights, meaning less competition at the same time..

 

[diverLux]

On the subject future of Sharm.
Religion is also tradition, to understand the meaning of it one needs to have a background through birth, family, education and living there .
Why should western way of lives apply in Egypt. The egyptian people have their own tradition and believes. Without speaking or understanding the language how will you ever know what is in people's heart and mind . Just visiting a country during holiday, reading the press or expats working there in a western environment doesn't qualify to form an meaningful opinion. Didn't someone here say at the beginning of the events this would be a short lived stint ? Didn't one emigrant say he wanted to be with his people during the events only to draw a silly comment ?
The egyptian people will follow the path they choose, it is none of our business.
Mass tourism in Egypt is only about 15 years old and one government representative recently said their priority is not the tourist industry.