The desert is alive - north Africa hopes tourists will soon return

By Andreas Heimann Nov 29, 2011, 19:27 GMT

Berlin - North Africa has had a turbulent 2011. Many Europeans watched the political developments in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya from a safe distance - but decided not to book their vacations on the Red Sea or in Djerba.

This year has been catastrophic for the tourism sector of the north African states. Egypt, for example, the most important tourist destination in the region, suffered a plunge of almost 44 per cent in visitors during the first quarter.

'In February there were virtually no trips originating from Germany,' says Sibylle Zeuch of the German Travel Association DRV. According to Egyptian tourism office figures, the drop-off in August was a good 20 per cent.

Sabine Gerhard, who is in charge of regional operations for the German tourism company Dertour, said future bookings would depend on the outcome of elections in Egypt and Tunisia. But it is unrealistic to expect that business will return to the levels seen before the political upheavals.

'Up until mid-January, the winter season of 2010-2011 was the best yet for Egypt that we had ever had,' says Guido Wieling, product manager for North Africa for the tourism company Tui. As a result, it would be difficult to reach these figures again in 2012.

Egypt's Tourism Ministry is now going on the offensive to push for growth and aims to strongly boost the number of tourists in coming years. In 2010, statistics recorded 14.2 million guests. Under Cairo's tourism master plan, the aim is to reach 25 million by the year 2020.

'Egypt in fact has the potential to achieve distinct growth,' Wieling says. 'On the Red Sea there are endless stretches of pristine coastline, untouched coral reefs and first-class diving areas.'

Ury Steinweg, managing director of the travel firm Gebeco, is less optimistic.

'Syria is currently totally dead, and Israel has also strongly declined. In Egypt, we had a falloff of one third,' he says. For 2012, the company has reduced its offerings for Egypt.

The same is the case at the Studiosus travel firm. 'We are no longer offering any tours to the oases in the western desert,' says Manfred Schreiber, the Mideast expert for Studiosus. However, he adds, 'Altogether, I believe that Egypt is on a good path.'

Gebeco's Peter Eschweiler, who is an Egypt scholar, is also hopeful, stating, 'I can well imagine that our programme will be clearly more comprehensive in two years' time.'

Libya, too, may offer interesting prospects, provided that there is political stability, says Wieling. 'On the Mediterranean coast there are dreamlike beaches which can be compared with the Caribbean.' But in contrast to Egypt, the country has virtually no tourism infrastructure.

Libya has a great deal to offer, says Gebeco's Eschweiler. 'Not even Italy has so many well-preserved cities from the ancient Roman period.'

One example is Leptis Magna, a city of ruins which puts a gleam in the eyes of history buffs. Gebeco had Libya in its catalogue up until this year. 'But we did not operate any more trips,' Eschweiler says. And for 2012, the country was removed completely from Gebeco's catalogue.

The situation is similar for other tour operators.

'But we can imagine quite a bit for the year 2013,' says Gebeco managing director Steinweg. 'What will be decisive is whether the country is safe and whether visa requirements are simplified.'