"The impact on tourism
Egypt’s hospitality industry has been adversely impacted by recurrent demonstrations and violence that swept the country both during and after the January revolution. Several Salafists have suggested the imposition of a dress code for tourists in coastal resorts, the prohibition of alcohol and the destruction of some ancient monuments that they see as “idols.”
Many critics fear that such laws and restrictions would further cripple the struggling industry.
Abdel Ghafour, however, refuted such allegations.
“Some people are trying to blame the decline of tourism on us, but we’re not responsible for that,” he said. “Tourists were scared off by political instability that has resulted in huge financial losses.”
“Under Mubarak, tourism was based on corruption and faulty planning,” he added. “Sharm El-Sheikh [one of Egypt’s most prominent beach resorts] is a clear example – it was owned by businessmen closely linked to the former regime.”
“They keep saying tourism generates 12 per cent of the country’s revenue,” Abdel Ghafour went on. “But, upon looking into the distribution of that percentage, we find that these same businessmen get the lion’s share, while almost all those who actually work in tourism get crumbs.”
“I would like to reiterate: we would never oblige anyone to do anything. We simply want to safeguard existing Islamic traditions, nothing more,” he stressed. “Foreigners, of course, can eat and drink whatever they want in Egypt. The rules of Islam do not apply to them.”
However, Nour Party spokesman Nader Bakar recently told tourism workers in Aswan that the party would enforce a ban on serving alcohol to both foreign nationals and Egyptian citizens if it were ever to come to power."
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