TABA TROUBLES WILL TEST TOURISM!
Security search at Taba Egypt
NEWS FLASH…
STATEMENT BY: EGYPTIAN TOURISM MINISTER Mr.Hisham Zaazou
“I express my deep sorrow for the tragic incident that occurred recently resulting in the death and injury of a group of Korean tourists. I seize this moment to offer my sincerest condolences to the people and government of South Korea as well as the families of the victims.
I confirm that the investigations are still ongoing and that all concerned parties are keen and adamant on delivering the exact truth and facts pertaining to such a despicable act.
We, at the ministry of tourism, are ensuring that all security bodies are undertaking the necessary precautionary measures to guarantee that such an incident TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE will not occur again.
The perpetuators and the guilty will be detained and prosecuted. Justice will be served. Law and order will prevail.
With reference to the communiqué attributed to Jamaat Ansar Bayt Al Maqdes, we would like to clarify the following:
– The attributed communiqué is not credible and has no grounds, as the Jamaat itself has repeatedly confirmed in all previous communiqués that it has no accounts on any social media platforms such as; Twitter, Facebook… etc.
– The Jamaat has no official e-mail account and does not communicate either with any official or non official bodies.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that many well respected and trusted media forums, think tanks, journalists, travel editors, columnists and s correspondents have been skeptical of and questioned the credibility of the account and the declaration altogether.”
The mountains surrounding Taba Egypt
TABA TERRORISM AND TOURISM
A random act of terrorism could be the death of jobs for thousands of Egyptian workers in parts of the Sinai peninsula.
The bombing killing and maiming of Korean tourists a sad day for their nation. This tragedy will have a marked effect on toursim to this resort area that is unique in terms of middle Eastern politics. As from that area of Egypt it is or was possible to visit Egypt itself of course but also Israel and Jordan too.
This coming together of three nations borders allowed Arab, Jew and Christians to meet in ways that may not have seemed possible.
I met Jewish workers and business people coming over the border from Israel into the Taba resort and also met similar Arab business people flying in from Cairo to the same resort complex, all enjoying and relaxing maybe not together but at least there was inter-change and it seemed refreshing to see both cultures at play rather than at war, a small step forward if only in a minor way.
Golf at the resort in Taba Egypt
With literally thousands of Egyptian workers reliant on the tourist resorts of Taba they are the likely fallout of that bomb blast!
Mainly travelling in from Cairo for months at a time these workers and their families back home could well suffer severe and dramatic hardship if the tourists along with the tours companies start to pull out in big numbers here too.
The price that these hotel workers and their families could have to pay is so much more than a missed holiday in the sun, its their lively hood and all that goes with that!
