(AFP Photo)
Several officials in Luxor have denied the statement of Thrwat Al-Agemi, the president of the chamber of travel and tourism establishments, that the Ministry of Tourism has decided to give aid to those affected by the deteriorating tourism situation.
Bakry Abdel-Geleel, the head of the Bazaar Owners’ Association in Luxor, denied these reports,claiming they are nothing more than media propaganda.
“We have submitted a request for financial support in January and we have not received anything since then,”he said.
“The request contained the names of those affected in Luxor by deteriorating tourism conditions and the amount of aid requested,”hesaid, claiming: “Bazaar owners were expected to receive EGP 150,000, with each owner receiving an EGP1000 deduction from the electricity bill.”
He added: “The budget to support stagecoach owners was expected to be EGP 97,000.”
Abdel-Geleel also stated that Luxor has been suffering greatly since 2011 and bazaar owners haven’t been making any profits.
“Reports declaring that the number of tourists visiting Egypt increased are simply flawed because these statistics count any foreign visitor that comes to Egypt when in fact many are immigrants,” he said.
Moataz El-Sayed, president of the tourist guides syndicate, said he has no information on the rumoured aid.
“I don’t believe the ministry has the financial capabilities that will allow it to support those affected because the number is extremely large,” he said, and estimated that the number affected could reach the “hundreds of thousands.”
The financial support is said be distributed on the 27th of Ramadan, 5August; however no official statement was issued by the ministry.
Ministry officials and representatives from the tourism federation could not be reached to comment.
