Egypt's tourism sector turns more attention to Chinese market

"The good news is we have witnessed a slow growth in tourists recently, especially during the vocational month in the Arab countries," Khaled Fouda, South Sinai Governor of Egypt, said in an interview on Sunday.

"Besides the traditional origins of tourists, now we have turned our eyes on China, a country with a large population and ancient culture, similar to Egypt," the governor said, adding that Sharm el-Sheikh is highly and technologically-based re-secured, ready to welcome people around the world.

He also told Xinhua that Chinese people still don't know enough about Egypt. "It means that we have broad prospects in Chinese market," Fouda added.

Along the coastal strip of Sharm el-Shaeikh lays hundreds of hotels, resorts, travel agencies and night clubs. Some of them have been shut down, only leaving the dedicate buildings beside the sea, while others are trying to attract the shrinked number of tourists with lower price.

"Sharm el-Sheikh has become a habit for my family, every summer we come here with friends," George Turk, a middle-aged Jordanian told Xinhua. His wife and daughters were playing in a swimming pool within a hotel.

He said that years ago, Sharm el-Sheikh was always full of people from Britain and Russia. Now he noticed the increasing number of Chinese tourists.

A Chinese student named Li Ruiqing told Xinhua, echoing the governor's words, that "for most Chinese people, Egypt is still a distant country with mysterious culture. They like beaches and old temples, but they don't know well about Egypt."

For Semih Elbaba, the manager of a famous hotel named Rixos Seagate Sharm, his business idea is a little different from others.

"Differing from the other owners who have shut down their hotels or promoted cheaper packages while firing some staff, we choose to maintain our price and develop more projects," Elbaba told Xinhua.

As an experienced practitioner in the field of hotel management, Elbaba said Sharm el-Sheikh is reviving slowly, and his hotel will work on some promotion campaigns in China.

"We don't worry about the income in a short term, we cast our hope in the future," he said.