Tourism News – Egypt
August 10th, 2007 by Christina Putz
An Australian publication, The Age, recently reported on the growing need for tourists traveling to Egypt to be guaranteed a safe, hassle-free trip.
Egypt is famous for its touts; infamous merchants who make a living offering rides around monuments, such as the Pyramids in Cairo, for a low, hourly fee. Touts usually rise as early as 5 a.m., in order to beat their competition, and tour around visitors on horses, donkeys, or camels. Some are fortunate enough to have a “licence-to-hassle”, and most started working as a child, bypassing any formal education.
With recent crises in the Middle East, tourism has become a top priority for the Egyptian Government. And, because of its deep-rooted ancient history, tourism is Egypt’s second biggest earner, after the Suez Canal. Though there was little problem between authorities and touts in the past, the government is recognizing the increasing irritation from tourists. There was even a touts’ protest march to protest a potential ban from the Pyramids.
However, unfortunately for the tourists and authorities, the touts seem to play an integral role in the tourism industry. For example, if a tourist is driving towards the Pyramids in a taxi was persuaded by approaching men to divert down a side road, and take a camel or horse up the plateau, the taxi drive would get a commission, and the guy who persuaded them would get a commission, not to mention the tout himself. And in order to stay off the radar, the touts sometimes have to pay off the tourist police as well, so most are benefiting.
If the touts were ever to be banned, there would not only be outrage, but a large unemployment increase. Almost all touts are uneducated, and with today’s heavy reliance on computers, they are unfit to do anything else.
