Thoughts on the future of Sharm

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

I think that the issue is that people here do not know real details about sharia except the Saudi example which is too much extreme for at least 90% of population ... the good point as I see is that those with majority (MB or the political wing FJP) are moderate unlike what the old regime was trying and even succeeded to convince foreigners with..
I personally have no fear of them or what they intend to do for tourism, and in fact if I see otherwise to my expectations, I am sure many others will do the same and definitely on the elections to follow they will no longer be majority .... putting the correct system in place is the best guarantee that things should go in a good direction.
 
When democracy began in America....
nobody told me about this...! :D

Just going back a few posts - I don't think tourism generates quite as much as 80% of GDP but it still generates a significant amount of money - 11.8 billion dollars in 2009 (GDP for 2010 was around 500bn) - but I assume that would be revenue generated purely by tourism in terms of hotel rooms and dive trips and museum entry tickets and the like, and doesn't include the rest of the service sector that has to be there to provide for the tourists.

One thing for certain, it employs a lot of people. Moreover it employs a lot of people that would have very few job prospects otherwise. Illiteracy remains high in Egypt, but that's not so essential if you can wield a mop or a spanner, or fill a tank with some degree of expertise. What other options to these guys realistically have?

The MJP do indeed speak of a secular approach to government, and have appointed a token copt and one woman to the party... which might not seem much to the politically correct western world - but it really wasn't so long ago that women in Europe and America were not allowed to vote, and black people couldn't even use the same toilet as whites, never mind run the whole country. One woman and one copt in government is therefore significant progress.

However, the political party does not necessarily speak for the entirety of it's following and one loose analogy as an example would be Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, who came to the negotiating tables in the 1980s/90s whilst hardline IRA splinter cells were still busy bombing the United Kingdom.

When non-Muslims hear "Sharia Law", they do indeed associate those words with the extreme practice of - for example - the Taleban, with whom we have become quite familiar thanks to the News-Corp sponsored "war on terror". It will depend on how far the MJP are willing to go when it comes to implementing these laws with respect to foreigners. No bacon is one thing, but forcing all women to cover up would probably have serious implications for business.

Since the party themselves probably aren't quite sure exactly how it would play out, the likelihood of the average Egyptian farm worker - who probably doesn't know a thing about tourism, and doesn't really care either - understanding the wider implications of the enforcement of Sharia law in Sharm El Sheikh is minimal. He just went and voted for exactly what he wanted - a party he has common ground with, and who he hopes will look after him better than the last lot.

I sincerely hope that Solly's last point is indeed the case for the future - if the elected party doesn't come up with the goods, have a revolution-by-ballot-box, and vote for somebody who will.

Cheers

C.
 
I was very interested to read a column in our local newspaper today, by a journalist who is spending some time in Egypt. He recounted discussions with what sound like upper middle-class, educated people who supported the MB, and were insisting that the party was quite cognizant of the importance of tourism, and would not be as fundamentalist as I suspect those of us looking from the outside fear.

I wish the people of Egypt nothing but good, and I really hope their country remains one that I would like to visit.
 
...
I wish the people of Egypt nothing but good, and I really hope their country remains one that I would like to visit.
My sentiment exactly. Plus of course one I CAN visit.
 
When democracy began in America,
nobody told me about this...! :D
Sorry for the ambiguity. I suspect from the smiley you understood, but just to be sure everyone else does...

I did not mean that democracy as a concept began in America; I was instead referring to the time that America adopted its version of it.
 
There is an article in the largest newspaper in Norway today about the election in Egypt.

They are talking about what could happend in Sharm with the the Muslim Brotherhood and salafis winning the election, no alcohol, segregated beaches and only married couples sharing hotelrooms.

It will scare a lot of norwegians from travelling to Egypt.


Mortenscuba


Valget kan gi store forandringer for Egypts turisme - VG Nett om Reiseliv
 
Ironic when they call the meeting "how to stimulate tourism" and then go off saying "the tourists dont need to drink alcohol when they are here, theres plenty where they come from"...

And I BET couples wanna go to Egypt for a nice relaxing beach vacation where they cant even enjoy eachothers company. They seriously should hire one of us infidels as an advisor. I'll do it for red-sea food and shelter close to a dive shop :p
 
A couple of interesting reads:

Viewpoint from the current minister of tourism

What the Salafists would do.


As the elections progress I think it's pretty clear the MJP are going to form the next cabinet and so far, I'm not hearing anything that especially worries me should they be elected. I do worry about how much influence the Salfists gain though - as things stand they are going to have a large voice in parliament and I do have concerns that after the election, there might be some backroom dealing in order to appease the hardliners. What a party says before an election, and what happens when they actually come to power are rarely the same thing, as Mr. Obama is finding out as he tries to implement manifesto promises in the face of massive resistance from the opposition.

The uncertainty of it all is one of the key factors for many of us here - as I mentioned in my blog, January and February are the dead months for tourism here, so do we risk hanging around or get out now whilst we still have the money we made in high season? Sadly, a very good friend of mine handed in the towel yesterday and two more leave at the end of January... :-(

Fingers crossed,

C
 
I just read this evening that a couple of people thats been at my favourite dive op for the past 5 years is going back home soon as well.
Looks like the people working down there is running out of reasons to stay :/
 
Salafists winning 25% or so of seats to me is FAR more worrying than the MB winning 40%+.
 

Back
Top Bottom