For Arab tourists, Cairo can be sin city
Worried by violence in popular Lebanon, Arab tourists are heading to Egypt instead, and causing waves as they ignore Islamic customs adhered to at home.
from the July 12, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 4
Rising numbers, longer stays
Tourists from Arab countries made up about 20 percent of all visitors in 2005, according to Egypt's Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics 2005 yearbook, the latest edition available. But they stay 50 percent longer than their Western counterparts and therefore spend more per tourist. Egypt wants to increase that with sparkling new malls featuring expensive foreign brand names like Gucci and Bulgari. Hotels throw lavish Saudi-only parties featuring top Arab singers, and house casinos and shopping lure Arab tourists, hotel employees say.
The "Arab Season" runs from about July 1 through September, although this year may be cut short since Ramadan begins in early September.
Most visitors stay for several weeks, either in top hotels or rented furnished apartments. The demand means that an apartment that might rent for a few hundred dollars in the winter could go for $2,000 a month, says Fahmy Nadeem, who rents apartments. Some families move out of their places in the summer to make a quick profit from renting to visitors. Landlords even toss residents out to ensure that leases end on May 30.
"I prefer Lebanon to Egypt … but Lebanon has problems now," says Hamad el-Shamali, who is visiting from Kuwait with his wife and six children, as he reads a newspaper in the cafe of the swanky Grand Hyatt hotel.
His family is typical of many Arab tourists. They rented an apartment near the Nile for their month-long stay. They spend their days visiting an amusement park, cruising the Nile or, as on this night, heading to the hotel's theater to see the new movie by classic Egyptian movie star Adel Imam.
"Anyone who drinks from the Nile will return to Egypt," he says, citing a proverb. "But also because of the good people here."
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