Egypt Tourism Battered By Violent Clashes

The fresh violence and clashes in the Cairo has shattered the hopes of Egypt tourism of a great year. The protests in Cairo against the President Mohamed Morsi, demanding his ousting has threatened to start second wave of pro-democracy movement.

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Unfortunately the tourism industry has to pay the price for this. Even though most of the tourist sites have not seen any violence, but the scenes of protesters raging fire and clashing with the riot police is enough for tourists to press the panic button.

Hotels in Cairo have reported worst occupancy rate in quite some time. The political unrest is hurting their business in same manner as when movement against the Hosni Mubarak was at its peak.

Perhaps the most scary incident so far was when some protesters reached the lobby of Semiramis Intercontinental hotel in downtown Cairo. One of the staff member tweeted on the official hotel's account asking for the help to counter sudden attack. Since that incident the hotel as cancelled all the bookings.

At Tahrir Square protesters are clashing with the police ion regular basis. The worsening situation at the Tahrir Square has forced the authorities to ask the nearby 3 hotels to take safety measures.

The Occupancy rate has been down since 2010 and the profits have dropped by 60 percent. Hotels are not being able to cover their monthly costs. As the situation looks today, some hotels may be forced to close down or perhaps burned down by the protesters.

Most of the Red Sea resorts in Egypt saw a hope of recovery in 2011 but the protests have brought situation back to square one. As per industry estimates occupancy in Cairo is around 15 percent, 50 percent for Red Sea Resorts and mere 5 percent for Luxor and Aswan.

tags: Egypt Tourism, Egypt Protests, Mohamed Morsi, Red Sea Resorts, Hosni Mubarak