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WORLD NEWS Thursday 26 april 2018

Egypt's parliament passes

law to fine aggressive touts

By SAMY MAGDY to feed their families," he Mubarak.
Associated Press told The Associated Press The once multibillion tour-
CAIRO (AP) — In efforts on Wednesday, declining ism industry, a vital pillar
to revive its tourism sec- to give his full name for fear of the country's economy
tor, Egypt passed a bill this of retribution. and source of work for mil-
week imposing fines on Former antiquities minister lions of people, has been
overly aggressive touts. and famed Egyptologist decimated. The tourism
The law approved this Zahi Hawass said the fines sector suffered a further
week could see anyone would be insufficient to de- blow after an Islamic State
found pestering tourists ter harassment of tourists. bombing brought down a In this Jan. 26, 2018 file photo, visitors enjoy horse rides near the
ancient statue of Sphinx, with the body of a lion and a human
"with the intention of beg- "A prison sentence should Russian passenger plane head, at the historic site of Giza Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt.
ging or promoting, offering have been included be- over the Sinai Peninsula in Associated Press
or selling a good or service" cause such practices harm 2015, killing all 224 people
fined up to 10,000 Egyptian Egyptian tourism," he said in on board.
pounds ($567). TV remarks late Tuesday. Russia, which subsequently
The legislation has still to be Visitors to the pyramids at banned all flights to Egypt,
ratified by Egyptian Presi- Giza and other major his- only resumed Moscow-Cai-
dent Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. torical sites in Egypt are ro flights in April. The Egyp-
The news has already raised routinely harassed and fol- tian national carrier is still
concerns among Egyptians lowed by young men of- barred from flying to Russia.
working in the area of the fering tours, souvenirs, car- Last year, 8.3 million tourists
famed pyramids at Giza, riage or camel rides. Scams visited Egypt, compared to
offering souvenirs, carriage are common, and the tour- 15 million in 2010, accord-
or camel rides. ism police rarely intervene. ing to official figures.
Ahmed, one of the work- Egypt's vital tourism indus- Egypt's government has
ers, said the bill will impact try has been hit hard by also tried to lure tourists
the source of livelihood for extremist attacks and po- back by promoting new
thousands like him. litical turmoil following the archaeological discover-
"The new rules will only af- 2011 uprising that toppled ies and boosting security
fect poor people struggling longtime autocrat Hosni around historical sites.q