Egypt Allows Foreign Tourists to Some Resorts Next Month

Business

June 11th, 11:37am

Asharq Al-Awsat

FILE PHOTO: Tourists are seen on a beach in the Aqaba Gulf on the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt July 12, 2018. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo

Egypt will allow scheduled international flights and foreign tourists to some of its coastal areas that have been least affected by the COVID-19 disease starting from July 1, the cabinet said in a statement. The government also decided to continue implementing the curfew from 8 pm to 4 am. Egypt closed its airports in March as part of its measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. But the country has in recent weeks started loosening confinement measures as it looks to slowly open up to tourists in the summer season. Hotels have ramped up hygiene, archaeological sites have been sanitized and beaches cleaned up. "We are laying the groundwork for tourists from around the world to find this destination ... in exemplary sanitary conditions," Egypt's antiquities and tourism minister, Khaled al-Anani, told Agence France Presse on Wednesday. "We are waiting for our curve (of contaminations) to stabilize," the minister said. Egypt had high hopes for tourism in 2020 before the health crisis hit. The government expected 15 million tourists to visit this year, up from 13 million in 2019. Now, hotels are to be allowed to operate with up to 50 percent capacity, according to the minister. The facilities are required to provide masks and sanitizers to all guests, while common areas must be regularly disinfected and the use of elevators limited to 50 percent capacity, he added. Anani said the ministry has greenlighted only 73 out of 178 hotels that requested to reopen, adding that he "could not take the risk" of opening any deemed unfit. "I'd much rather support these hotels than open them."

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2328986/egypt-allows-foreign-tourists-some-resorts-next-month