UGANDA/KENYA: Nubians In Uganda And Kenya

Nubian Twist Hair Style
Nubians consist of seven non-Arab Muslim tribes which originated in the Nubia region, an area between Aswan in southern Egypt and Dongola in northern Sudan. For centuries, this territory was a crossroads between Egypt and the African tribal kingdoms.

From the 1500's until the 1800's, the Ottoman Empire encroached upon the Nubia region. As a result, many Nubians migrated to remote areas along the Nile.

Distinct groups evolved and were named according to their locations. For example, those who settled near the Wadi Kenuz became known as the Kenuzi while those who settled in Dongola became known as the Dongolawi.

In the 1960's, many of the Nubian villages were flooded as a result of the construction of the Aswan High Dam.

About 100,000 Nubians were forced to resettle in "New Nubia," 20 miles north of Aswan. Others relocated in Uganda and Kenya.

Most Nubian groups speak their own dialect of the Nubian language. However, many also speak Arabic and kiswahili which is the common language of business and trade. Although their languages are different, each group is identical in social, economic, and cultural organization.

These Nubi people developed as a unique ethnicity, as individuals from various Sudan tribes melded together in the new settlements in Uganda and Kenya, marrying local women. Nubi men continue to marry women of various tribes. These new wives are expected to learn the Nubi language.

Some popular sources sometimes use the term Nubian for this ethnic group. This seems to be partly due to confusion of these Nubi people, originally from Sudan (Nubia), with the cluster of ancient peoples called Nubian in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.

The Registry of Peoples lists the primary groups of these Nilotic Nubian peoples with their unique codes as follows:

- Nubian, Arabized 107494 (Arabic Mother Tongue)

- Nubian, Kenuzi 104833

- Nubian, Dongolawi 102707

The Sudanese troops that fought with the British likely did include soldiers of traditional Nubian ethnicity. However, there is no current connection between the traditional Nubian peoples of the Sudan and these Nubi people.

There appears to be no contact between the Nubi groups and the Nubians who have descended directly from the ancient Nubians in various linguistic and cultural tribal descent in their home areas.

The Nubi are now estimated some sources as 16,700 (2001) in Kenya and almost 15,000 in Uganda. The Kenya Nubi still live primarily in Kibera, as a separate tribe, speaking the same Nubi Creole Arabic. Today, the Nubi people work in both the private and public sectors. The women specialize weaving unique handicraft and hairdressing.

This community faces a number of socio-economic and political problems that have reduced their self-esteem. The people live mainly in the slum areas where the electricity, water and sanitary conditions are poor.

Families have difficulty paying school fees and this leads to school dropout and involvement in drug use. This problem is made worse by the urban surroundings. The Nubi people also face a problem where their land is being grabbed by the rich. They find themselves threatened and depressed.

The Ethnologue lists their language under the name of the people, Nubi, with language code kcn. The Ethnologue comments. "Formerly a soldier language, which split off from Sudanese Pidgin Arabic about 1900." It is considered a Creole Arabic.

The Nubi's language is reported by some to be no longer intelligible with Sudan Creole Arabic (Juba Arabic). An article in the Sunday Nation newspaper in Nairobi (written by a Nubi Catholic priest, "Father Kizito") says the Nubi in Nairobi cannot understand Sudan Arabic Creole speakers.

It is uncertain whether Nubi (Kenyan Creole Arabic) is intelligible with Ugandan Nubian Creole. The Ethnologue reports them as the same language. In the past, the language has also been referred to as Nubian Creole Arabic.

The people are called Nubi. Their language is appropriately referred to as Nubi or Nubian Creole. However, the term Kinubi commonly used for their language seems to indicate their bilingualism in Swahili and their association with Kenyan African society.

The Kenya Nubi use Swahili, however, to speak with the world, not any form of Arabic. Creole Arabic Nubian, or Kinubi, the Swahili name for their speech is only a home language, and is not written.

Though educational levels are not high, they are literate in Swahili and English. Everything related to learning, writing or contact with the outside world appears to be in Swahili (or English) and they seem totally bilingual in Swahili.

It is not certain whether Swahili is their primary decision-making language. If not Swahili, then it would be Nubian Creole Arabic.

In Nairobi it appears that Swahili is becoming the mother tongue of the Nubi tribe. The Ethnologue reports that the Kenya Nubi have a stable bilingualism.

The Ethnologue reports that the Kenya Nubi have a literacy rate of below 1% in their own language. There is no written literature in the Nubi language. Literacy in Swahili is a bit higher, but still below 5%.

The Nubi went to Kenya in the 1800s due to their military service with the British in Sudan. They were settled in Kibera before Nairobi was even a town. There does not appear to be a strong political identity for the Nubi in Kenyan history. They are not prominent in current politics. They have been accepted by other tribes and identify with Kenyan society at large.

The Nubi have steadfastly maintained their Sunni Islam while living in Kenya for a century. In the Kibera neighborhood of Nairobi alone, there are eight mosques, all led by Nubis.

Although all Nubians are Moslems, the first bride has the option of demanding that the groom never takes on another wife.

Since the colonial days, Uganda has hosted an ethnic group of people known as Nubians, originating from the Nuba Mountains in Sudan. The traditions of these people are unbelievably fascinating.

These are traditions so conserved that they are very unique. Numbering well over 10,000 in Uganda, Nubians are arguably the only tribe in Uganda that has all its members belonging to the Islamic faith. Indeed, their traditions are more or less in line with Islamic teachings.

A marriage in a Nubian setting is called the 'Nikah' (tying the knot) and it is conducted at a mosque or at the girl's home where it is presided over by a Sheikh (elder). It all begins with a boy and a girl agreeing to get married.

Ordinarily, it is the boy that initiates the relationship, before the couple informs their parents. However, some conservative families still choose suitors for their daughters, ignoring the daughters' preferences.

This is in relation to the Islamic belief that a parent should marry off their daughter in the best way they deem fit. This tradition is, however being challenged by western values which emphasize freedom of choice.

The boy's parents are supposed to get in touch with their counterparts on the girl's side to ask for her hand in the marriage on his behalf.

Then, a visit to the girl's family by the boy's parents, intended to sort out the formalities for their children's marriage, follows. It is then that deliberations on the related terms and conditions are made.

One of the items on the agenda of such a meeting is the gifts that will be received by the bride's family. Such items may include sugar, money, cooking oil, cloth and any other as may be demanded.

It is common to find a special package of 'Kari' cigarettes for the older relatives of the bride among such gifts.

In any Nubian marriage, the elderly are given priority in choosing gifts because they are highly respected and are believed to be capable of administering good luck.

Before the Nikah at the mosque, the groom gets a chance to talk to the bride. This session is known as the Mahare (bride gifting) and the groom is supposed to ask the bride what she would like him to give to her.

She can ask for such items as cars, houses or opt for nothing but love. The essence of this ceremony is to get the couple committed to marriage, for they get a feeling of being indebted to each other.

Some Nubian girls use this opportunity to make the men commit themselves to a monogamous marriage by asking them not to marry other women as is allowed by Islamic tradition.

Because she has the liberty of choosing whatever items she deems necessary, the bride is expected to use this opportunity optimally and reach a consensus with the groom on the terms of fulfillment.

When a man fails to commit himself to the delivery of the girl's demands, the marriage can be halted.

He, however, has the opportunity to pay in parts or pledge his commitment but in case a divorce happens afterwards, the girl's family is expected to pay back the items that were given by the man as mahare.

The Nikah climaxes with the couple tying the knot, which cements the couple as man and wife. This ceremony cannot be done if the bride is pregnant - she has to wait until she has given birth. It is blessed by a Sheikh in the presence of witnesses.

However, the bride does not make an appearance there and she is expected to stay in hiding until she is ready to go to the groom's home. She is represented at the Mosque by her brother or father, depending on who in her family has the right of giving her away.

She does not appear before the people at the Nikah because there is a need to protect her from temptations in case she sees other men who might easily lure her out of committing her life to the groom.

The groom can take the bride home after the Nikah has been performed but she will be wrapped up, to ensure that no other person sees her until she has reached his home.

The first obligation a bride is expected to perform when she reaches her new home is to prepare a meal for her new family.

It is referred to as 'testing the hand of the bride' and it is done to confirm her potential to make a responsible wife who can fend for her family. It is by this test that the family takes their impressions of the new bride.

If the family is not impressed, there is a possibility that the bride will be sent back to her parents so that she can perfect her cooking skills.

Occupying areas of Acholi and some parts of Bukedea, Kumi, Soroti, Tororo, Busia,Bombo,the Nubians are descendants of a group of Sudanese army personnel who were brought into the country by the colonial government.

They originated from a region near the Nuba Mountains in Sudan, explaining why they are called Nubians. Their closest relatives in Uganda are the Acholi, who are directly related to the Madi. These are all historically eastern Sudanese tribes.

As Adnan puts it, it is because of their hospitable customs and friendliness that the Nubians settled easily in Uganda. They are now constitutionally recognised as one of the country's ethnic groups.

Indeed, theirs is one of the very few Ugandan tribes that have managed to keep their customs more or less intact. Their zeal to propel their legacy looks every inch unchallengeable.

The Nubian economy is based on agriculture. During the winter months, they grow wheat, barley, millet, beans, peas, and watermelons. Mangoes, citrus fruits, and palm dates are also part of the Nubian diet.

A thin, coarse bread called dura is one of their basic staple foods. Pieces of the bread are usually piled on top of each other and eaten with vegetables and sauces, or are spread with date jelly.

In old Nubia, men migrated to the big cities to find work, while the women farmed the land, cared for the animals, and did household chores. Today, since the land is located far from their dwellings, men do most of the field work while the women work at the home.

Some women have also found employment as schoolteachers, public service workers, and seamstresses. Some of the men now own grocery stores or drive cabs.

The typical Nubian house is very spacious, with several large rooms that are able to accommodate the extended family members and guests. In the center of each home is an open courtyard. The front of the house is colorfully painted with geometric patterns.

Most of the paintings and decorations on the homes have religious connotations. The colorful designs are a distinctive and admired feature of Nubian culture.

The literacy rate among Nubians is high in comparison with their rural Egyptian neighbors. Primary and secondary schools have been set up in New Nubia, and there are also teacher-training facilities in the area.

In addition to education, policies, radio and television are other ways in which socialization takes place among the Nubians.

For centuries, the Nubians often held lengthy religious and agricultural ceremonies. However, since relocation, the ceremonies have been shortened and are now limited to the villages. During these ceremonies, the Nubians express themselves through singing, dancing, and beating drums.

The Nubians were converted to Christianity during the sixth century. They remained so until the gradual process of Islamization began taking place from the fourteenth until the seventeenth centuries.

Today, the Nubians are almost all Muslims. However, their traditional animistic beliefs,belief that non-living objects have spirits are still mingled with their Islamic practices.

The traditional beliefs of the Nubians were centered on the spirit of the Nile. The Nile is believed to have life-sustaining power and to hold the power of life and death within it.

The people believe that the river is endowed with angels, sheiks (religious leaders), and other powerful beings. The sheiks are sought daily for their advice in the areas of health, fertility, and marriage.

The Kenuzi Nubians have an annual festival known as the "Saints Day Celebration," or moulid.

This holiday reinforces the history of the Kenuzi. Gifts are presented at the ancestral shrines in the fulfillment of a promise made the previous year.

Colorful processions are held during this time of celebration. Dancing, singing, and feasting are also included in the festivities. The moulid is still celebrated in New Nubia each year.

KABARA SUNU




Tourism Observer

EGYPT: Tourism Shows Recovery, More Than 60% Tourists From UK Or Russia

Tourists are slowly returning to Egypt, easing pressure on a key sector battered by years of turmoil and the 2015 bombing of a plane carrying Russian holidaymakers.

There is an increase in the number of tourists. The situation was much better in January than in previous years, tourism ministry spokesperson Omaima al-Husseini said.

Visitors from China, Japan and Ukraine account for a large part of the growth.

China's top public travel agency, China International Travel Service, reported a 58 percent increase in tourists flying to Egypt compared with 2015.

There are more bookings between October 2016 and January 2017 than last year, said Egyptian Federation of Tourism chief Karim Mohsen.

There is an improvement, especially in cultural tourism in Cairo, Luxor and Aswan," key historical sites, he said.

The uptick is a hopeful sign for a country also reeling from the shock of an economic reform programme that has triggered massive inflation.

Once a key source of foreign currency, the tourism sector crashed in 2011 after a popular uprising overthrew president Hosni Mubarak, ushering in years of sporadic unrest.

Recoveries in the sector since then have been set back by new crises.

In June 2015, a massacre of tourists at a Luxor temple was narrowly averted when assailants armed with assault rifles and explosives bungled the attack and were intercepted by police.

Then, in September that year, Egyptian forces mistakenly targeted a group of Mexican tourists visiting desert sites with repeated air strikes, killing 12 people.

The next month, Islamic State militants, who are waging an insurgency in the eastern Sinai Peninsula, struck again.

They bombed a Russian airliner carrying holidaymakers home from the popular Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

All 224 people on board were killed. In the aftermath, Russia suspended flights to Egypt and Britain cut air links with Sharm el-Sheikh.

Visitor numbers plunged from 9.3 million in 2015 to 5.3 million the following year, Husseini said.

But industry officials have cautiously welcomed what they say is a noticeable improvement since October.

In December 2016, 551,600 tourists visited Egypt, compared with 440,000 the year before, according to the government's statistics agency.

Activity has picked up a bit in the winter of 2016-2017, said Tamer al-Shaer, vice president of the Blue Sky travel agency.

He said that included a 30 percent increase in Ukrainian tourists and a 60 percent increase in visitors from China, with daily flights to Aswan, a southern city rich in ancient sites.

Japan's HIS travel agency said the number of tourists heading to Egypt had multiplied by four to five times last year.

Since charter flights from Japan to Egypt resumed in April 2016, they have been on average 80 percent full, said a spokesperson for the Japan Association of Travel agents.

Egypt hosted a record 14.7 million foreign tourists in 2010, a year before Mubarak's overthrow and the ensuing economic nosedive.

Restoring even two thirds of that number is a key government goal, but it hinges on Russia and Britain resuming flights, Husseini said.

There are ongoing negotiations we hope the issue will be resolved as soon as possible, she said.

More than 60 percent of tourists arriving in Sharm el-Sheikh by plane used to come from Britain or Russia.

So long as the Russians do not come back, there will be paralysis, the tourism federation's Mohsen said.

Russians and Britons are the backbone of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Other European countries such as Germany and France have registered a slight increase in reservations to Egypt.

In early February, four other European countries - Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden - eased travel warnings against travel to south Sinai, where Sharm el-Sheikh and other resorts are situated.

EGYPT: 2-Year Tourism Recovery Plan Points To Faith And Luxury Tours

Egypt plans to promote religious, medical and luxury trips, and develop new markets in India and Eastern Europe, as it pushes to revive its vital tourism industry to pre-2011 revolution levels within two years.

In addition to more diverse tourism offerings, the home of the pyramids will ease travel for residents of the Gulf Arab nations through an e-visa program as part of a broader plan to boost visitors and encourage longer stays and more spending, Tourism Minister Mohamed Rashed said in an interview in Dubai.

The effort marks the latest attempt by Egyptian authorities to kick-start a sector that had been a primary source of foreign currency, and the economy economy, which has struggled since the 2011 uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak. The years of unrest that followed his toppling are made more dire by a series of terrorist attacks that only serve to further burden the government as it tries to attract foreign investors while appeasing a population of over 92 million straining under the weight of the reform measures.

“The final target is to get to the 2010 numbers” Rashed said, referring to the more than 14 million visitors the country hosted in 2010, its peak year for tourism arrivals. “We should be able to get as close as possible to the target in the next 18 to 24 months.”

Already, Egypt has seen a slight reversal of the downward trend it’s endured for years. But to cement the gains and stage a sustained recovery, officials plan on further promoting programs far removed from the traditional surf and sun offerings found along the Red Sea resorts, or the antiquities for which Egypt is famed.

Those options include “Holy Family” tours to eight destinations, Rashed said. To get a slice of the medical tourism industry, the country would be capitalizing on the lower cost of some cosmetic procedures in Egypt, relative to the expense in Europe and the U.S. for the same surgeries.

The road to recovery has been difficult. The 2015 downing of a Russian passenger jet shortly after its takeoff from the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh killed all 224 on board and promoted a ban on flights to Egypt from Russia that has yet to be lifted.

Palm Sunday church bombings earlier this month left at least 45 dead and dozens wounded in two cities, while another attack on a police checkpoint near the storied St. Catherine’s Monastery in south Sinai brought closer to the main tourism hubs the risks posed by militants. The three attacks were all claimed by the Islamic State’s local affiliate.

Egypt is working on revamping its image to change perceptions by potential visitors that it is an unsafe destination. Rashed stressed that terror is a global threat, versus one targeting one particular country.

“What happened in Egypt is no different than what’s happening anywhere in the world,” Rashed said. “When you talk about an incident right in front of Westminster in London or an incident in Champs-Elysees or other incidents in last three to four years, it proves that Egypt has taken the right measures to stop these people from advancing.”

The North African country is already seeing a “very optimistic” first quarter and is “well-positioned” to see the return of tourists by diversifying source markets and developing Cairo, Luxor and Aswan as luxury destinations. Germany is the top growing market, followed by the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, he said. There’s also been growth in tourists from China, Japan, United States and the Ukraine.

EGYPT: Israel Advises Tourists To Check Out Of Sharm el Sheikh Over Terror Threats

Egypt is likely to be subject to an ISIS terror attack in the near future according to Israel, which has warned tourists in the Red Sea resorts to leave immediately.

What does this mean for tourists?

Israel has warned that it believes an ISIS terror attack is imminent in Egypt’s Red Sea resorts, and is advising citizens to leave the area immediately.

Israelis have also been warned to cancel all future travel plans to the area.

“We don't want to cry wolf, wolf,” Eitan Ben-David, the head of Israel's counter-terror bureau, said. “We really believe that the threat is serious.”

The Red Sea resorts include tourist destinations such as Sharm el Sheikh, Luxor and Hurghada.

These are popular resorts with British holidaymakers for winter sun, and while demand has dropped off since prominent terrorist attacks in 2015 and last year, thousands still visit every year.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has not updated its advice in response to Israel’s claims that a terror threat is imminent.

Although it advises against all travel to the Governorate of North Sinai and all but essential travel to the Governorate of South Sinai, it specifically excludes the Red Sea Resorts.

The FCO says: “The tourist areas along the Nile river including Luxor, Qina, Aswan, Abu Simbel and the Valley of the Kings and the Red Sea resorts of Sharm el Sheikh and Hurghada aren’t included in the areas to which the FCO advise against all but essential travel.”

Rasha Azaizi, director of the Egyptian State Tourist Office in the UK, said: "Egypt is and has always been open for business and 2017 will be a year of major growth and recovery. Tour operators, like Thomas Cook, are reporting a pump up in sales.

"As in every country in the world, the security measures in Egypt are very strict. As the terrible events in London last week have shown, terrorism is a global phenomenon and we all must be vigilant."

British visitors are still warned not to fly into Sharm el Sheikh after a plane from Sharm to St Petersburg, Russia, crashed in 2015.

Russian authorities stated that the crash was caused by an explosive device on board the plane.

The FCO says: “As a precautionary measure, we are advising against all but essential travel by air to or from Sharm el Sheikh.”

When asked about whether the threat level in Egypt had increased, an FCO spokesperson said: “FCO Travel Advice is kept under constant review.”

Frank Brehany, MD of HolidayTravelWatch, said: "Whilst tourism has essentially stayed away from Egypt, we must understand their reasons for doing so, whilst offering sympathy and understanding to those who rely on that tourism.

"It is not in my view the role of UK holidaymakers to be simply a ‘commodity' in the promotion of tourist trade between the UK and Egypt; that can surely only come when all the right measures and conditions are in place to guarantee their safety and indeed demonstrate that they not only work but that there is stability in any difficult destination."

The threat of terrorism is currently labelled as “high” in Egypt.

EGYPT: Tourism Signals Recovery

Tourists are slowly returning to Egypt, easing pressure on a key sector battered by years of turmoil and the 2015 bombing of a plane carrying Russian holidaymakers.

"There is an increase in the number of tourists. This situation was much better in January than in previous years," tourism ministry spokeswoman Omaima al-Husseini said.

Visitors from China, Japan and Ukraine account for a large part of the growth.

China´s top public travel agency, China International Travel Service, reported a 58 percent increase in tourists flying to Egypt compared with 2015.

"There are more bookings between October 2016 and January 2017 than last year," said Egyptian Federation of Tourism chief Karim Mohsen.

"There is an improvement, especially in cultural tourism in Cairo, Luxor and Aswan," key historical sites, he said.

The uptick is a sign of hope for a country also reeling from the shock of an economic reform programme that has triggered massive inflation.

Once a key foreign currency earner, the tourism sector crashed in 2011 after a popular uprising overthrew veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak, ushering in years of sporadic unrest.

Recoveries in the sector since then have been set back by new crises.

In June 2015, a massacre of tourists at a Luxor temple was narrowly averted when assailants armed with assault rifles and explosives bungled the attack and were intercepted by police.

But in October that year, Islamic State group jihadists, who are waging an insurgency in the eastern Sinai Peninsula, struck again. They bombed a Russian airliner carrying holidaymakers home from the popular Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

All 224 people on board were killed.

Russia suspended flights to Egypt and Britain cut air links with Sharm el-Sheikh.

Visitor numbers plunged from 9.3 million in 2015 to 5.3 million the following year, Husseini said.

EGYPT: Tourism Ministry To Take Chinese Tourists To Luxor And Aswan

The Ministry of Tourism is looking into a contract with a private airline to fly from Guangzhou, China to Luxor and Aswan directly to increase hotel occupancy in the region in the upcoming period.

According to an official at the Ministry of Tourism, who preferred to remain anonymous, negotiations with the airline are nearly complete and the results will be announced within days. The official noted that security authorities have decided to allow entry to Chinese tourists upon arrival as opposed to obtaining a visa from the embassy in China.

“The Chinese market is a new market for Egyptian tourism and falls within the emerging markets that Egypt seeks to enter,” the official said. The ministry is targeting 100,000 to 200,000 Chinese tourists in 2016.

Chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Authority Samy Mahmoud said the Chinese market has “large potential” in the future.

He believes that increasing the numbers of Chinese tourists relies on flights between the two countries, whether through charter airlines or EgyptAir flights.

According to head of the Egyptian Federation of Tourism Chambers Elhamy El-Zayat, the Chinese market has grown bigger as a result of increased wages in China and the incentives some Chinese companies grant their employees in addition to conference tourism.

“Those companies may find Luxor and Aswan attractive for the cities’ cultural heritage that appeal to South and East Asia tourists, especially Chinese,” El-Zayat said.

The report stated that Chinese tourists would be allowed entry visas from the port of arrival since it may be difficult for them to travel to where the Egyptian embassy is located in China.

The Ministry of Tourism has decided to grant those visas only to those arriving in tours and carrying a cut-off amount of money, which is yet to be determined. The report explicitly excluded tourists from what it called “lower backgrounds”.

The official said the ministry would implement this plan before the end of the first quarter (Q1) of 2016 and will focus on the Chinese, Indian, and Japanese markets. He explained that flights from these markets would be subsidised to $70 per seat.

The ministry aims to bring about 500,000 tourists from these three markets by the end of 2016, according to the official. “The number is not big but it depends on flights from those countries,” he said.

The Egyptian Tourism Federation hosted its Indian counterpart several times over the past two years in Luxor and Aswan to sign a cooperation protocol between the two federations and increase Indian tourism to Egypt.

EGYPT: 6 major tourism companies partake in ‘Egypt is in Our Hearts’ programme

Tourism companies formed six alliances to participate in the tourism programme “Egypt is in Our Hearts” that was launched by the Ministry of Tourism to support touristic areas in Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada, Luxor, and Aswan.

The companies of the six alliances include El-Nahar Tours, Cairo Airport Travel, Overseas Tours, Al-Yamani, Egyptian Nile Tours, and Lucky Tours. An official in the Egyptian Travel Agents Association (ETAA) said they requested any willing companies to implement a programme from any of the six companies.

The Ministry of Tourism will suspend the “Egypt is in Our Hearts” initiative during schools’ winter holiday in January since there is already an increasing demand on Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada during that time.

Board Member of ETAA Adel Abdel Razek said tourism programmes targeting Egyptians must cover the entire year, and should not be neglected or exist only during periods of crises. He believes the major cause of the low rate of domestic travel is the high prices of plane tickets, although EgyptAir reduced its prices in the past period.

The decision to suspend the programme during the current period came due to the usual high demands during the winter holidays, as support from the Ministry of Tourism is not required, the official however noted.

The programme is meant to support tourism during periods of crisis, and will resume after the winter holiday in cooperation with the tourism companies, and the Ministries of Tourism and Aviation, he continued.

The official expects more than 20 companies to participate in the programme in cooperation with the National Bank of Egypt. “The programme aims to increase hotel occupancies in areas suffering from the lack of tourists, especially in Luxor and Aswan,” he said.

The programme’s prices range from EGP 600 to EGP 4,000, including the plane ticket, for four nights, according to the hotel’s category.

Abdel Razek said there are negotiations with private airlines to organise trips to tourism destinations in Hurghada, Luxor, and Aswan. The private airlines can provide good offers with low prices that suit domestic tourists.

Member of ETAA in Luxor and Aswan Tharwar El-Agami criticised the suspension of the tourism programmes midyear. “The decision will limit Egyptians’ ability to visit the archaeological areas in Luxor and Aswan, since there will not be a better time than the midyear holidays to visit these areas.”

According to El-Agami, the hotels in Luxor and Aswan have suffered most since the 25 January Revolution in 2011; more than 250 hotels and Nile boats shut down because of lack of tourists in the area.

EGYPT: Tour Operators Warn They Will Fly Elsewhere Unless Airport Security Is Guaranteed Soon.

Tour operators warn they will have to fly elsewhere unless airport security can be guaranteed soon.

British package holidays directly to Sharm el-Sheikh may not resume until next July unless tour operators receive assurances soon that its airport is secure from infiltration by jihadists.

Travel companies have warned that if a verdict on the safety of is not reached by the end of this month, they will need to divert next season’s flights to other destinations.

That would leave British travellers unable to visit a popular sun spot and strike a major blow to the Egyptian economy, which relies heavily on British tourism.

It is unlikely the UK government will be able to reach a decision by the travel industry’s end-of-November deadline, and Philip Hammond, the Foreign Secretary, has said that flights may remain suspended until Christmas.

The uncertainty is fuelled by the fact that Egypt’s authorities have still not established whether or not an operative of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) smuggled a bomb on to the Russian airliner that crashed nine days ago, killing all 224 aboard.

Investigators have reportedly interrogated 18 airport managers and workers but have made no arrests and still do not know if there is a mole among the staff.

Eight British flights left yesterday carrying around 2,000 passengers. Some 15,000 Britons are still in the resort, of which 3,000 were supposed to be home already.

The British airlift is dwarfed by the Russian repatriation, which is seeing more than 20 flights taking 4,800 passengers out of Sharm el-Sheikh every day.

John Casson, Britain’s ambassador to Egypt, denied suggestions that Russia’s operations were slowing down the return flights of UK tourists.

Tourists enjoy the sea at Sharm el-Sheikh

Mr Casson added that the UK was confident British travellers could fly safely through other Egyptian airports.

It emerged, meanwhile, that holiday operators are selling packages to hotels within striking distance of the heartland of the Isil-affiliated group suspected of targeting the Russian airliner.

Websites including lastminute.com are offering holidays to Taba Heights, Egypt, for departures this week, even though the British government has been advising against all but essential travel to areas around the resort since last year.

Three tourists died in a suicide bombing in Taba last year. Hundreds of local civilians and troops have been killed in attacks.

However, Lastminute.com is offering a 10-night break at the Hilton Taba Resort Hotel and British visitors are known to currently be at the resort.

Recent reviews of Taba written by British tourists on TripAdvisor suggest they had no idea that it was in a danger zone.

One, Mike C from Chester, who stayed in April this year, said that “UK airlines don’t fly to Taba for some reason any more, so you get a bus or taxi from Sharm which can add to the occasion.”

Eight more flights are expected to leave Sharm el-Sheikh today to bring home British holidaymakers.

Tourists flying home at the weekend complained that there was still chaos at Sharm el-Sheikh airport.

Marc Standen, 28, a car salesman from Westgate, Kent, said: “They did a semi-pat down inside and we took our shoes off. I don’t think it was very thorough. Their security is terrible and they are completely overwhelmed.”

Bags taken on board were not checked adequately, he said, and at one point around 400 people tried to squeeze through two glass doors to get to a final security check, leaving some hurt as they got trampled.

He added: “We have left our two bags behind in a pile in the middle of the terminal, and I honestly don’t know if we will see them again.”

In a nutshell:
The Foreign Office (FCO) says there is a high threat from terrorism, but only advises against travel to certain areas
How many people does the FCO advice affect?
The 900,000 British nationals who visit Egypt every year
Out of bounds areas:
The FCO has advised against all travel to the Governorate of North Sinai
Only travel if absolutely necessary to:
Governorate of South Sinai (excluding Sharm el Sheikh); the area west of the Nile Valley and Nile Delta regions; all but essential travel by air to or from Sharm el Sheikh airport
The areas currently deemed safe:
The Sharm el Sheikh perimeter barrier, Nile Delta and Marsa Matruh. This includes the tourist areas along the Nile river (including Luxor, Qina, Aswan, Abu Simbel and the Valley of the Kings) and the Red Sea Resorts of Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada

EGYPT: How Safe Is It To Travel To Sharm El Sheik

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has directed Irish airlines to avoid the Sinai Peninsula, following the crash of a Russian plane there last weekend.

Russian MetroJet Flight 9268 crashed over the Sinai Peninsula last Saturday following a "sudden and unexpected situation", killing 224 passengers and crew.

The plane took off from the Egyptian Red Sea holiday resort of Sharm El Sheikh, with many of the passengers holidaymakers from St. Petersburg.

No cause has been identified for the crash, although terrorism has not been ruled out. The possibility of a bomb placed on board the aircraft would have very serious ramifications for the resort and its airport - Africa's third-busiest.

On Wednesday evening, the IAA directed Irish airline operators not to operate to/from Sharm el‐Sheikh Airport, Egypt or in the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula airspace "until further notice".

The announcement follows a similar "precautionary" move in the UK, with Thomson, Thomas Cook, Monarch, easyJet and BA having now suspended flights.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has not changed its travel advice, however.

It advises Irish citizens to note the IAA direction, but does not recommend against travelling to the resort. It says potential visitors should "exercise a high degree of caution and avoid travelling outside the resort."

The British FCO adds: “We are not raising the threat level in the resort. The advice applies only to air travel to and from Sharm el-Sheikh.”

A team of UK aviation experts travelled to assess the security arrangements at Sharm El Sheikh airport Wednesday night, with an initial assessment reportedly showing improvements are required.

That is the current (and very unusual) situation.

It differs to Tunisia earlier this year, for instance, when holidaymakers were evacuated after a terrorist attack saw travel alerts stepped up.

The British security team will be examining passenger-screening processes, baggage handling procedures, and the effectiveness of background checks on airport staff at Sharm El Sheikh airport.

Thousands of tourists are now said to be stranded in Sharm El Sheikh.

Those on package holidays should be looked after by their tour operator, which is legally obliged to get them home and to provide care and assistance in the meantime.

Independent travellers should seek advice from their airlines, which are obliged under EU law to offer refunds or re-routing with care and assistance.

This is an evolving situation, but some reports have suggested that British security officials are developing a secondary operation to screen passengers and their baggage, and to protect UK aircraft at the airport.

Charter flights from Ireland to Egypt finished last week, and Falcon, Thomson Holidays and Red Sea Holidays have all now ended their summer programmes to Sharm El Sheikh.

However, Irish tourists may could still travel independently, and a small number of tour operators, including LowCostHolidays.ie and Cassidy Travel, continue to offer packages using flights via Istanbul with Turkish Airlines, for example.

As of Thursday morning, LowCostHolidays.ie advises us that it has no Irish customers in Sharm, and is "constantly reviewing the situation and will be following the guidelines as recommended by the DFA."

"The sooner everyone finds out what really happened, the better," Pat Dawson, CEO of the Irish Travel Agents' Association (ITAA) told The Herald. "At the moment it is a no-go area.”

Sharm El Sheikh has a troubled history as a tourist resort.

The resort was hit by terrorist attacks in 2005 that killed 88 people and wounded over 200, making them the deadliest in Egypt's history.

In 2010, a series of shark attacks injured several swimmers and closed beaches for over a week after a German woman was killed while snorkelling.

In 2014, security threats saw the resort's withdrawal from Irish holiday brochures, though packages resumed after the DFA downgraded its travel alert.

The fact that the latest air disaster comes just months after a terrorist attack that left 38 dead in Tunisia will further fuel concerns about North African travel.

The vast majority of visits remain incident-free, however.

Indeed, one of the first things tourists to Sharm El Sheikh will notice are its armed tourist police. Together with vehicle checks and CCTV, they have created a ring of steel on the Sinai Peninsula, reflecting its value as a cash cow for Egyptian tourism.

"Irish citizens are advised to avoid-non-essential travel to Egypt at this time due to a heightened threat of terrorist incidents, including targeted attacks against foreigners, and a continuing threat of civil unrest," the DFA says.

The following exceptions apply: Sharm El Sheikh; Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel (including cruises between them); the Red Sea coastal resort of Hurghada and other Red Sea resorts outside the Sinai peninsula, where Irish citizens are advised to exercise caution and arrive and depart by air.

Strictly speaking, if you cancel your holiday without the DFA declaring travel to be unsafe, it could be deemed "disinclination to travel". As such, you may have to give up your deposit, pay a cancellation fee or forfeit some or all of the cost.

If your tour operator cancels, however, you will be entitled to a refund or replacement holiday.

Having the appropriate travel insurance in place can defray these costs... but you need to check the small print in your policy.

If the DFA declares travel to Sharm to be unsafe, you will be entitled to a full refund. You are unlikely to claim successfully if you are simply nervous about travel, however.

EGYPT: Tourism Development Authority (TDA

The Tourism Development Authority (TDA) arrangements to pull in 100,000 vacationers from South Africa amid the current monetary year (FY) 2014/ 2015, as per an official from the power.

The authority, who wished to stay unnamed, expressed that the Ministry of Tourism is in correspondence with Egyptair to empower go from South Africa, while at the same time giving motivating forces to outside tourism organizations.

As per the official, normal using by South African tourists arrives at roughly $120 for every night, making them the most astounding using visitors in Egypt.

The authority included that the TDA’s arrangements are some piece of a method to target new tourism markets, other than the conventional European and Arabic Gulf ones, and would like to exploit late monetary upturns in a few nations in the most recent decade which came about expanded pay for people.

The service focuses to expand tourism wage to $10.5bn for FY 2014 / 2015.

The authority expressed that the power is additionally attempting to build tourism from India, China, Brazil, and Argentina.

As per the official, the greater part of the visitors from these target nations lean toward social to memorable tourism in Luxor, Aswan, and Cairo, and their normal stay goes between five to seven nights.

EGYPT: Tourism Livelihoods Low In Luxor

Mohamed Abdelhadi is struggling to make ends meet as the dip in the tourism industry hits his tourist reliant business in Luxor

Local tourism industry workers tell MEE about the difficulties they have faced since the Egyptian revolution of 2011.

The main cobblestone street stretching between Luxor’s train station and the Temple of Luxor, a massive complex of ancient Egyptian columns, walkways and statues abutting the Nile, is empty in the midday sun. Shopkeepers sprawl on plastic chairs in front of their shops piled to the rafters with carpets and pottery. Young men stand idle on the walkway beside the Nile, hoping to attract a customer for a ride on a felucca, a triangle-sailed boat used to cruise the waterways of Egypt.

Mohamed Abdelhadi, 27, leans back on the seat of his horse-drawn carriage parked in Luxor’s main street, his sandals up on the footboard. Wearing a long, light robe called a galabiyya, he smokes one of the handful of cigarettes he can dig up the money to buy each day. Abdelhadi is waiting for a few tourists to pass by who might pay him for a ride on his carriage. “On the TV, they say that tourism, is coming back,” Abdelhadi says soberly. “But what I see right in front of me is that there’s nothing.”

Luxor, a city along the Nile in southern Egypt some 650 kilometers south of the capital Cairo, has long depended on tourism to hold together its local economy. While the lush fields around the Nile support vibrant agriculture, most locals hoping to make a decent living outside of agriculture or the nearby sugarcane factories look to tourism. But with the revolution of 2011 and the ensuing unrest in Egypt and throughout the region, locals say tourism has plummeted, and so have their livelihoods.

“In 2009, there was business. I picked people up, dropped them off. The whole area was moving. Since the moment the revolution broke out, tourism dropped off,” said Abdelhadi, speaking on the scarcity of clients for his horse carriage, which he has been driving for tourists since he was a teenager.

In the bedroom of his brother, Ahmed Ali, 30, in their family’s home in Luxor’s Karnak al-Qadima neighbourhood, Abdelhadi discussed the rise in prices in post-revolution Egypt that has compounded difficulties in getting by.

“Everything’s gotten more expensive,” Abdelhadi said. “For example, prior to the revolution I used to give 50 Egyptian pounds to my mother and father, and they would buy food for lunch and dinner. Now, I’d have to give them 100 pounds.”

Indeed, the past several years in Egypt have witnessed inflation and rising living costs nearly across the board. According to Trading Economics, a market research and statistics organisation, the “cost of food in Egypt increased 9.79 percent in April of 2015 over the same month in the previous year”.

Further, long-standing fuel subsidies were cut last summer by the administration of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, in an attempt to reel in the country’s ballooning budget deficit. The move sparked protests throughout Egypt, and has driven prices for a variety of goods and services still higher.

There are nine people in the family’s modest apartment where Abdelhadi lives. His brother, Ahmed, also a horse carriage driver, said his wife and two children, along with his parents, are on the breaking point without tourism and the work it brings.

“I’m thinking hard about how to pay for food, drink, a pack of smokes, the rent for the house.” He added: “I think of this so much so that I can’t sleep.”

Rasha Azaizy, spokeswoman for Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism, showed optimism for the future of tourism in Egypt. She said that the number of visitors to Egypt is on the increase, with a 6.88 percent rise in visitors between January and March. She also noted an 8.4 percent increase in the number of nights reserved in hotels over the same period.

The areas most negatively affected by what she casually refers to as “the events of 2011”, said Azaizy, were Cairo, Luxor and Aswan. “The tour usually begins in Cairo and ends in Aswan,” she said.

Azaizy ran through the hotel occupancy rates for 2014. With the exception of Egypt’s largest Red Sea resort towns like Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada, most of the numbers were well below 50 percent. Luxor’s hotel occupancy stood at an abysmal eight percent.

However, Azaizy says that the Ministry of Tourism has ambitious plans to remake Egypt as a regional hub for tourism. According to Azaizy, by August the ministry will have a dedicated advertising agency which will embark upon an “integrated campaign” to target tourists from specific countries like Russia, England, Germany and Italy. The campaign, which aims to attract 20 million tourists and $26 billion of revenue by 2020, is intended to draw tourists inland to sites like Luxor and Aswan for cultural sightseeing - tourists who might otherwise venture no further than the beaches of Red Sea resorts.

“We will focus on destinations that are suffering. We’ll remind the world that Egypt has more to it than just beaches,” Azaizy said.

Waheed Lawandy, 42, an English-speaking tour guide in Luxor, has depended on tourists for his livelihood since the 1990s. Working as a freelancer, he says that prior to the January 2011 revolution and the upheaval that has followed, work was never in short supply.

“We tour guides used to get phone calls from companies to go work. One day one company would call, the next day another company. We hardly had any rest.”

Working with tourists primarily from Japan, South Korea, the the United States, England, France and Germany, Lawandy says the entire local economy was stimulated. “I was bringing in lots of money. I rented carriages, cars, went to clubs and cafés. Even people not working in tourism were making money.”

Lawandy thinks that with the right efforts, the tourism economy could be rebuilt in Luxor in a matter of months. “I see the solution as reactivating tourism through social media, traditional media and the Ministry of Tourism. They need to show tourists that these areas are not dangerous.”

But for Abdelhadi, the idea of recovering work - and a life - in tourism is clouded by pessimism. For him, there’s not much that can be done to save Luxor. Instead, he sees emigrating as his best bet.

“I want to get out of here, to travel abroad, frankly. I would go to any country that has work,” he said while dragging on a cigarette in his brother’s bedroom.

But without a means to make the money required to travel abroad to work, Abdelhadi seems trapped in unemployment, like one in three Egyptian youth, and constantly hovering on the margins of Egyptian society. Unable to leave the country, and trying to survive off of an industry highly sensitive to security in a country that hasn’t been so unstable in decades, is waiting for a solution from above.

“How do I bring work to my area? I’m waiting for it to come. It’s up to the powerful people on top to do that.”