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CNN Saturday Morning News

Tourism in Egypt Impacted by Terrorism in U.S.

Aired October 27, 2001 - 09:10   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: The tragic events of September 11 and the retaliation have reverberated around the world in various ways. In Egypt, millions of people are worried about their future. They live off of tourism.

CNN's James Martone now on the hardships they're facing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMES MARTONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At Cairo's ancient bazaar, Khan al-Khalili, there is lots to sell, but no one is buying. Vendors sit and wait for tourists who don't arrive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are afraid to go, to take airplane, to come to anyplace all over the world. Everybody prefer to stay home.

MARTONE: Hassan (ph) and others at the bazaar say the events of September 11 have dealt them and Egypt's number one source of hard currency, tourism, a near-fatal blow. They compare the situation to 1997 extremist attacks in Egypt that targeted tourists and threw the industry into crisis.

The government countered those attacks with stepped-up security but admits the present crisis is more difficult, as it stems from events outside Egypt's control, the attacks on the U.S., and the U.S.- led strikes in Afghanistan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We cannot manage it alone, no country can manage it by itself, because it is global. That is the difficult side of it.

MARTONE: International tourists have canceled visits to Egypt for tours to the famed pharaonic city of Luxor and renowned Nile cruises. Airlines have cut back, or cut altogether, flights to Egypt.

(on camera): Before the events of September 11, this area of the Sphinx and the pyramids would have received over 5,000 tourists from abroad a day.

(voice-over): Now the only tourists are Egyptian school children, who can't provide the money that in the past supported more than 2 million Egyptian citizens and their families.

Shahat Abdel Aziz (ph) polishes fake pharaonic treasures and smokes cigarettes. He has one of the most wanted business spots in Egypt, a stand in front of the Giza pyramids. But he and others who live off tourists have next to nothing to do since September 11.

SHAHAT ABDEL AZIZ: This is the season, it must be the beginning, the winter season, you know, now you see by your eye. He got nothing.

MARTONE: James Martone, CNN, Giza, Egypt.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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