In light of this tragic incident, Egyptian authorities have decided to halt swimming, diving and water sports activities in the area between El Gouna and the southern border of Abu Soma Bay for two days.
Shark attacks are relatively rare at Egypt’s Red Sea resorts, but authorities previously closed a number of beaches overlooking the Red Sea about a year ago after a 68-year-old Austrian tourist died. years following a shark attack.
This comes days after it was announced that Egypt recorded the highest number of tourists in its history during the month of April.
According to the statement from the Egyptian government, the country received 7 million tourists in the first five months of this year, including 1.35 million tourists in the month of April alone, the highest level recorded by Egypt in one month of its history.
Cairo aims to receive 15 million tourists this year and 20 million by next year, while adopting an ambitious plan to maximize revenues from the tourism sector, to reach 30 billion dollars per year, starting from 2028.
Limited impact
For his part, Hossam Hazaa, a member of the Egyptian Federation of Chambers of Tourism affiliated with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, told Sky News Arabia that the impact of the death of the Russian tourist would be limited for some time, especially that these incidents were repeated in other countries and their tourism sector was not affected.
Hazaa identified the potential repercussions on a number of points, saying:
These are rare cases that don’t happen often in Egypt, and part of it is due to some ships throwing dead animals into the water, which attracts sharks to devour them, which alters its biological system. , but they generally do not attack divers or Egyptians. sailors, and therefore it must be emphasized It was an “extraordinary event”. The incident has spread widely in the last few hours, and the communication sites have contributed to it, but many comments contained inaccurate information, and this must be taken care of so as not to cast a shadow on the tourism sector. It is possible that there will be an impact on beach tourism for some time, but it is not a significant impact, and work will be done to address the issue through tourism marketing campaigns to manage this crisis. We can think of putting net barriers near tourist villages at specific heights to prevent large fish from entering near the shore, and this already exists in some tourist villages. This incident comes a few days after the announcement of a resumption of tourist returns, Egypt having received the highest number of tourists in its history in April, and there will be messages to reassure tourists and lovers of tourist areas Egyptians regarding the current situation.
Russians refuse to cancel flights
The Association of Russian Tour Operators said no cancellations of trips by Russian citizens to Egypt have been recorded so far after the shark incident.
The association said: “Russia’s largest tour operators did not record the cancellation of trips to Hurghada and did not predict it amid the recent emergency. However, the main reaction from tourists is expected tomorrow evening.”
For his part, Dmitry Gorin, Vice President of the Russian Federation for Tourism, expects this incident will not affect the flow of Russian tourists to Egypt much, adding: “Tourists will wait and see and will temporarily move to swimming pools and excursions”.
Tourism receipts over 10 years
About $10.7 billion in 2021-22, about $4.9 billion in 2020-21, about $9.9 billion in 2019-20, about $12.6 billion in 2018-19, about 9 .8 billion in 2017-2018, approximately 4.4 billion in 2016-2017, approximately 3.8 billion in 2015-2018 to approximately 4.4 billion 7.4 billion in 2014-2015 Approximately $5.1 billion in 2013-2014
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