Egypt’s Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou announced that the government will allocate $US 32 million (EGP 250 million) to improve security at tourist resorts across Egypt.
The large sum will be spent on CCTV cameras, metal detectors, X-ray machines, and bomb detection dogs, said the Minister, adding that the upgrades will be installed within several weeks.
The plan to upgrade security also includes deploying more security personnel and training local staff.
The announcement comes days after an attack left two tourists injured at a hotel in the Red Sea resort town of Hurghada.
The new upgrade also comes as Egypt attempts to win-back tourists following the Russian airplane crash in Egypt’s North Sinai. The airplane crash, which ISIS claimed responsibility for, resulted in a number of airlines cancelling all flights to several Egyptian cities.
In separate statements to The Telegraph, the Minister of Tourism revealed that occupancy rates at Red Sea resorts are at a woeful 15 percent. Last year, it was also revealed that Egypt is losing EGP 2 billion in monthly revenue because of recent events that have scared tourists away.
Since the January 25 revolution, Egypt has faced difficulties attracting tourists to the country. In 2010, 14.7 million tourists visited Egypt.
Tourists are not the only ones who have avoided Egypt. Recently, a world squash championship that was due to be held in Cairo was cancelled amid ‘security concerns’. Meanwhile, several international corporations have shut down their offices in Egypt.
The decline in the number of tourists has negatively impacted the four million Egyptians who work in the tourism sector. Tourism accounts for 12.6 percent of total employment in Egypt and for about 12 percent of the economy.
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