Also, is Sharm really totally fenced in now (as it was planned and announced in the news about two months ago)?
How is the atmosphere in this area after the deadly attacks of late July, how do the people - vacationers and locals - feel?
Posts: 30135 | From: The owner of this website killed ES....... | Registered: Feb 2004
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well i was there for eid, and it seemed pretty crowded. although one of the taxi drivers complained that most tourists who are going now are poor, and not as well off as before the attacks. hopefully inshallah it will get better
Posts: 4446 | From: Egyptian in Sydney | Registered: Mar 2005
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Sharm is back to it's old self. Memories are short with the tourists and you would never think there had been a bomb. All the damaged buildings have been repaired like new. It was quite an achievement the way they got things back together so fast.
I flew back to UK for Christmas last week and have never seen the airport so busy.
The fence is not finished yet but really it is more of a gesture towards security, it will never be possible to enclose Sharm when it is so open to the desert.
As for more poorer tourists going to Sharm that is probably true but nothing to do with the bomb. This more a a result of the marketing of the hotels after the near collapse of the tourism in Sharm after the start of the Iraq war. Many hotels are also now marketing fully inclusive packages which covers all meals and drinks. I know these are good for families but it is bad for the local businesses.
Posts: 3809 | From: Paradise | Registered: Mar 2003
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Thanks for your responses, especially to Penny. I am glad that Sharm is so popular again. Well, I am planning to go to Sharm with my both older kids in spring. No family vacation together this year as we are having an infant in the family.
I really will try to avoid any all-inclusive hotels to get the service and atmosphere I was used to in the past.
I am looking forward, haven't been there for three years. Posts: 30135 | From: The owner of this website killed ES....... | Registered: Feb 2004
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Tigerlily, My son and his girlfriend were in Sharm the last week in November. They never left the hotel complex, main reason being they were only there for 1 week and just wanted to relax before the rush of the Christmas period. Many of the guests done the same, just there for the sun. At the welcome meeting he was keen to go on trips etc but is planning to do that next April when they are there for 2 weeks. Also, the same as when I was in Luxor, the tour reps not only sell the usual trips to the Pyramids, Aswan etc but they also arrange shopping trips, (caleche rides, Luxor) and visits to alabaster factories, papyrus shops (of the reps choice) etc., knowing that these shops pay the tour reps high commission but in doing this there is no longer a fair distribution of the souvenier revenue between the businesses who rely on the tourists for a living. Whilst the reps warn the tourists about over-pricing in shops etc, which I agree does happen, they are doing the very same thing in promoting their own choice of shops for their own financial gain. Obviously the majority of the tourists, unfamiliar with bargaining and wanting to avoid the hassle, and worried about being over-charged are more likely to along with the tour reps. For example when I was in Luxor, the reps said at the meeting that to hire a caleche for 1 hour is about 100LE. Knowing a number of the drivers, they have told me that the tour rep will find a number of carriages for as little as possible (sometimes as low as 15/20LE per hour) for these trips. The rest of the 100LE from the tourist goes into the tour guides pocket. Is this fair? This is just one example. This is widespread now as a number of the sites listing things to do, places to go etc in Luxor, include caleche and fellucca trips all operated on the same basis. MM
Posts: 33 | From: UK | Registered: Nov 2005
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