It's not easy to shed any light on the situation at the moment - dive centres are suffering differently depending on the nationality of their usual customers. Sinai Dive Club probably has one of the largest percentages of the Japanese market and currently have only three instructors working for them.
Nobody really knows what's going to happen. I was told today that the majority of tour operators will operate 60% of their flights compared to last year - until September - because the planes to other regional sunny destinations are fully booked since tourists have decided not to visit Egypt this year.
Business is still quiet - but we're still technically in low season and although I know that my centre is expecting business as usual during Easter it is the business as usual version of 2006. As I'm sure you know from your experience here, the French are not a major player in the market here, and well..., English is a must. The Japanese are also a minority business, and after the terrible tragedy of last week, I can't imagine many will visit Egypt this year.
Nobody really knows what the work permit situation will be. Nobody even knows if it's possible to get them at the moment. CDWS regulations have been relaxed, but we don't know for how long, and apparently a specific committee will be set up to look at the dive industry, partly because there is a movement here by Egyptian dive staff to make it much more difficult for foreigners to get work here.
Dive centres are now faced with a problem. We should be recruiting over April in lieu of the busy summer, but there's not enough work or guarantee placements for random instructors. Priority for sure will be given to those who have been employed on some sort of permanent / permanent freelance basis and who had to disappear over last few months. On the other hand, recruiting new European staff when it becomes necessary will, we expect, be next to impossible - and sorry to the Egyptians, but the Europeans are required here currently.
That's a lots of ifs and buts and maybes I know - and doesn't really answer your question - but I would investigate carefully. Contact Sinai Dive Club - they are operating on a skeleton crew and already have a Japanese instructor (friend of mine) - and e-mail the centres well in advance to see what their plans are. Since you have already worked here you have a significant advantage over complete newbies, but personally, I would be prepared to be disappointed and look elsewhere.
I know that doesn't really help, but it's the best I can do at the moment.
Cheers
C.
