2016年1月4日VOA聽力:埃及旅行業又迎窮冬
The shores of this resort city are usually packedduring the holiday season. But after a Russian planethat had taken off from here crashed in late October,killing all 224 people on board in an apparentterrorist attack, business has plummeted.
Business owners say most of their income used tocome from Russian and British tourists. But both countries have suspended direct flights toSharm el-Sheikh.
There is no work. They say we are operating at 30 percent or 35 percent capacity, but there isnothing.
Officials are actively courting tourists from Saudi Arabia and other wealthy Arab countries. Butworkers say the increase in business from the Gulf has not been nearly enough to make up fortheir losses.
The tourism sector, one of Egypt's largest industries and main sources of foreign income, hasbeen reeling since the Arab Spring uprising of 2011.
Egyptian tourists, who now appear to make up the bulk of the visitors in Sharm el-Sheikh, sayfear may be keeping people away, but daily life for vacationers has not changed.
It's a beautiful city. I visited many places. I went to Paris, London, Zurich, Switzerland, Arabiccountries many of them but I didn't find a city like this city. It's so beautiful.
Officials had hoped 2015 would see the complete recovery of the industry after a nearly 30percent increase in 2014.
But the plane crash and the killing of eight Mexican tourists, who were mistaken for militants bythe Egyptian military while on a desert safari in September, have left many attractions acrossEgypt desolate.
We don't know what will happen after five minutes, so we cannot talk about next year.
Officials trying to revive the industry say they are hopeful 2016 will be better. Egypt’s naturaland ancient treasures may attract different groups at different times, they say, but in the end,the visitors will always come back.
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