War in Past, Tourists Again Flood Egypt

CAIRO —  Western and Arab tourists cross paths at dawn in the lobbies of Cairo’s luxury hotels.

The Westerners rise early before the scorching desert sun to visit the pyramids just as Persian Gulf Arabs return from heavy nights out on the town.

Egypt’s legions of hotels are jam-packed this year. Its pyramids, monuments, temples, cruise liners, restaurants, nightclubs, casinos and beaches are swarming with visitors from all over the globe after a long drought during the Gulf War.

The Westerners come for the ancient cultural heritage. Arabs fly in mainly for the night life, leisure and shopping.

Travel agents are fond of Westerners for the money they make from chartered coaches and sightseeing tours across Egypt. Hotels seem to prefer Arabs for the wealth they pump into their fancy restaurants, nightclubs, casinos and shops.

“Arab tourists are generous, heavy spenders and fun-seekers. They don’t care about money and never ask about prices. They pay the maximum rate for rooms without arguing,” said Mohsen Riyad of the Meridien Hotel.

Tourism Minister Fouad Sultan said tourism in Egypt hit a record 3 million visitors and $3 billion in earnings this year and the number of tourists was expected to double in five years.

“We did not expect the flow to be that heavy. There are overbookings in travel agencies and hotels. We’re barely tapping the potential,” Sultan said, adding that fiscal year 1992 was one of the best in Egypt’s tourism history.

Hoteliers say five-star occupancy is running at 100% in Cairo and at 98% in Luxor and Aswan and the Sinai Peninsula, normally winter resorts for European tourists fleeing cold weather.

Gulf Arabians form 60% of the occupancy while Westerners make up 40%.

A wave of Muslim extremist attacks against police and Egyptian civilians this summer had little effect on tourism, although four French visitors were wounded when a gasoline bomb was thrown into their bus near Luxor.

Rarely have the militants, seeking to turn Egypt into an Islamic republic, targeted foreigners.

“I find Egypt unequaled for its cultural heritage. It has a wonderful mixture of culture and entertainment. Where else in the world can you find such an exotic variety?” said Philippe Lefebure, a paratrooper in the Belgian army, at the pyramids.

Discotheques are packed with foreigners dancing the night away and Gulf Arabians, deprived of such fantasies in their own countries, sit gulping drinks and enjoying dancing shows.

The streets of Cairo, a teeming city of 13 million people, bustle with a mixture of Western tourists wearing shorts and chador-clad Gulf women and men in white robes or Dishdasha.

Colin Pully of the Cairo Marriott Hotel--the largest in Western Europe and the Middle East--said the hotel will enjoy more than 90% occupancy until next June.

Tourist operators forecast that the boom will last at least another year. “We’re building up toward a situation where the low season is shrinking and shrinking,” Pully said.

The boom has created much needed employment for hundreds of thousands of Egyptians.

Big hotel chains have hired seasonal staff to cope with the tourism flood that has spilled over from traditional cruises of the Nile to business conferences.

“The pyramids are God’s blessing to us . . . when tourists are happy they give us lots of money,” said tourist guide Ali Zaghloul Fayed, 29.