29 December 2011

Islamist rule in Egypt may scupper tourism if it is followed by crackdown on alcohol and bikinis

.... Azza al-Jarf, the Islamist lawmaker, says Egyptian officials need to rethink their approach to tourism.

She argues that appealing to Muslim visitors abroad and domestically will boost tourism, as would hosting more international conferences.

She adds that separating beaches by sex and curbing public consumption of alcohol won't affect these new markets or even the old ones.

Such pronouncements are naive, says Elhamy el-Zayat, who chairs the Egyptian Tourism Federation and runs a company specialising in conference tourism.

He says he's talked with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists at length about their tourism proposals and why they won't work. [MailOnline] Read more