The Ministry of Tourism, through its foreign offices and contracted private companies, began to measure the reactions and the repercussions resulting from the incident in Hurghada, which claimed the lives of four tourists from Ukraine and Germany.
Executive director of Mind Share Riham El Sawy, which is part of the deal with JWT to promote Egyptian tourism, said that the company is waiting for the report of the Ministry of Interior to assess the situation, since the nature of the incident, whether criminal or terrorist, will decide the coming steps.
The Ministry of Tourism, represented by the Egyptian Tourism Authority, had launched its campaign to promote Egyptian tourist destinations through the Trip Advisor website in five tourist markets: England, Italy, Germany, Sweden, and Denmark.
An Egyptian man attacked a number of tourists on a beach at a hotel in Hurghada. The attack claimed the lives of two German tourists and injured a few others before he was detained by the police.
Tourism Expert Essam Aly said that the situation is calm and stable in Hurghada, adding that tourists are still on their tours and none have decided to change their plans. A source at the the Hurghada General Hospital said that three injured tourists left the hospital after treatment.
The source said the two bodies of the German tourists are still in the morgue and are waiting for the German embassy to finish the procedures. The source added that the injured discharged from the hospital include two from Armenia and a third from the Czech Republic.
A spokesperson from the German foreign ministry confirmed that two German tourists were killed in the attack.
She explained that employees of the German embassy in Cairo are at the scene of the attack and are in constant contact with the Egyptian authorities.
Tourist investor Mody El-Shaer, who is in Hurghada, said that there are no requests from tourists to leave the city.
He added that his company had guests staying at the Palacio Hotel where the incident took place. The tourists were offered to change their hotel, but refused. El-Shaer said that the repercussions of the incident will only show in the middle of next week.
Germany tops the list of the most prosperous countries for tourists to Egyptian destinations this year. The Egyptian Tourism Authority plans to organise a tourist convoy in September in the German market in four cities: Berlin, Leipzig, Nuremberg, and Frankfurt. Some 500,000 Germans visited Egypt throughout the first half of 2017. The Ministry of Tourism plans to boost the number of German tourists to 1 million by the end of the year.
