Issue No. 605
Travel
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26 Sept. - 2 October 2002 Issue No. 605 Travel |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Tour lines
Changing hands: the Windsor Palace Hotel on the Alexandria Corniche
Travel Fair's message
Minister of Tourism Mamdouh El-Beltagui opened last week's Mediterranean Travel Fair (MTF) at the Cairo International Convention and Exhibition Centre with an encouraging comment on the recovery of the global travel industry a year after 11 September. "We need to seize this opportunity to always remind ourselves and the world of what tourism is all about," he said. "Tourism is millions of daily face-to-face meetings and billions of warm handshakes. It is the exchange of a wealth of knowledge and the acceptance and tolerance of different lifestyles and cultural diversity."One of the greatest tools we possess to narrow the gap between different points of view, people and civilisations is our industry," El-Beltagui added.
British convention organisers Reed Travel Exhibitions said 31 countries were represented this year, the third successive event. The exhibition was attended by 200 local and international tour operators and 350 travel writers and news representatives.
Tom Nutley, managing director of the organisers Reed Travel Exhibitions, said Egypt had much to offer as a tourist destination with tourism set to grow by 10 per cent over the next 25 years.
However Michael Cutler-Hodgson, managing director of Peach Resorts, told a press conference that Egypt lagged way behind the most popular destinations. While the Egyptian tourist industry supports a workforce of one and a half million, World Trade Organisation figures show its tourist numbers fall far short of the top 10 destinations. Tourists to Egypt in 2000 -- before 11 September and the War on Terror -- numbered five and a half million compared with 75 million to France, 48 million to Spain, 31 million to China, 25 million to Britain, 20 million to Canada and 19 million to Germany.
Dive with Cleopatra
Those who have dived the sunken treasures off the coast of Alexandria describe it as a unique and unforgettable adventure, and Alexandria Dive's stand at the MTF drew much attention. Alexandria Dive is catering to the growing interest in marine archaeology by arranging boat dives ranging from an individual one-hour introductory session to three- day packages for up to 30 people. Dive courses are offered to non-divers, and all equipment can be hired.Alexandria Dive currently runs boat dives to five sites, only one of which is deeper than seven metres, at 29 metres. The sites include the submerged island palace of Cleopatra VII in the Eastern Harbour, the foundations and lower floor of the Pharos, ancient Greek wrecks, and a German World War II boat and plane. Thousands of building blocks and columns -- some inscribed with hieroglyphic or Greek texts -- statues, sphinxes and amphorae lie on the harbour bed.
Divers are guided by experienced dive masters including Alexandria Dive director Dr Ashraf Sabri and Graeco-Roman Egyptologist Heba Ossama. The company can arrange a full programme in Alexandria including two daily dives, accommodation, transport and evening entertainment. Sabri is planning to expand the tours to cover the submerged city of Heracleion in Abu Qir Bay and the wrecks of the French fleet.
Alexandria Dive is open all year round on the Anfoushi Corniche next to Tikka Grill and the Fish Market at 24, 26 July St. Tel: 483 2045/6/7/8.
E-mail: alxdiv@dataxprs.com.eg
www.alexandria-dive.comChained heritage
Only $5 out of every $100 a tourist spends on a holiday in a developing country remains in the host nation, according to Brid Beeler, director of the alternative travel company World's Apart, speaking at the MTF. Of that money 40 to 50 per cent goes abroad to pay for food and beverages the tourist will consume, while most of the rest is claimed by foreign hotel investors and package tour operators.But sustainable development-conscious tourists on the search for locally-run incentives and accommodation are running out of local alternatives to international hotel chains. The latest Egyptian- owned hotels to fall under the hammer are two of Alexandria's heritage hotels, the Windsor Palace and the Metropole. Both have been sold by the Egyptian-owned Paradise Inns and will become Inter-Continental hotels on 1 October.
While both hotels have retained many of their original features and are furnished with antiques (with which the city abounds) they have shed their nostalgic, shabby chic image and been over- renovated to suit a more cosmopolitan taste. Brand- new gilding gleams on the plaster swags which formerly gave an air of chafed and faded elegance.
Both hotels are in the heart of Alexandria's business district. The Metropole on Saad Zaghloul Street, built in 1902 by Italian and Greek architects, has 66 rooms and suites and full conference facilities. The Windsor Palace, built on the sea front in 1906, has 76 rooms and suites and two ballrooms.
Few of Egypt's famous old hotels have survived the chain takeover. Not only are foreign owners consequently recouping part of the profits, but such heritage hotels are also now out of the price range of many independent travellers. Tourists seeking an individual and traditional experience must go further and further off the beaten track.
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