The Tourism Investors Association (TIA) in the Red Sea and Ain Sokhna will issue a note to the Tourism Ministry regarding damage from imports of coal.
The Ministry of Transportation has been using ports along the Red Sea coast to receive imported coal.
On Monday, the ministry chose Safaga and Al-Adabiya Ports close to Ain Sokhna, where there are many tourist resorts, according to the official.
In the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2014, the Ministry of Environment issued conditions and standards for the approval for importing the necessary coal generating energy for cement and fertiliser plants.
The official said the cabinet had previously stated there would be one port for receiving coal shipments, but the Ministry of Transportation added that there would be two.
He said: “Officials told us that the Ministry of Transportation plans to issue a note to the Cabinet to add a third port in the Oyun Musa tourist area. Coal will destroy the monuments in the area if the port was used.”
The Red Sea Coast includes two-thirds of Egypt’s hotel capacity at 225,000 rooms, according to statistics from the Egyptian Hotel Chamber.
For the last four years, tourism has seen a marked decline compared to 2010, when tourist flow was at more than 14 million tourists annually.
