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With the high proportion of money tourism brings to Egypt, the local council could improve facilities and offer tourists a more enjoyable visit

Noel Josephides

We run a small, embryonic programme of short breaks to Egypt from Cyprus.

It is very much an experimental arrangement but one we believe will grow in popularity.

The last time I went to Egypt was about 45 years ago when I visited Alexandria. I still remember King Farouk’s palace and the bustling waterfront where our ship docked.

Last week I had a short visit to Cairo and Aswan, plus a three-night Nile cruise. I wanted to see how it all fitted together and if it worked.

I did not manage to get to Alexandria but Linda, who is responsible for our Cyprus programme, had been and was impressed by the city and its distinct Greek flavour.

I had certain preconceptions. I had, for some reason, believed that a Nile cruise was something exclusive and expensive: a pilgrimage for the wealthy and educated.

I imagined there were no more than 40 or 50 Nile cruise boats plying the distance between Aswan and Luxor.

I found out there were hundreds, with operators from Northern Europe and local agents taking full commitments on cruise boat capacity.

This lead to discounting, consolidation and all the other ills associated with tourism based on full commitments on charter flights and accommodation.

Long lines of Nile cruise boats following each other in each direction – with Feluccas and fishermen’s small rowing boats dodging in between – gave the Nile, already subdued by the high Aswan Dam, the look of the Thames just between Hampton Court and Richmond.

The ancient sites were beyond description and a shiver ran down my spine when I gazed at the Forest of Columns in the Hypostyle Hall at the Temple of Karnak.

How could man rise to such achievements thousands of years ago? I consider it a privilege and an honour to have visited such places with such friendly hosts. But the business side of my mind took over and I looked coldly on what I consider to be atrocious site management.

The ancient monuments of Egypt are one big tourism machine. The temples at Karnak and Luxor, the Valleys of the Kings and Queens and Cairo Museum were so crowded I was reminded of the Wembley Stadium exits after a Rolling Stones concert.

I could not hear our guide and many gave up trying to guide altogether.

There was no shade for people queuing and, judging by the comments of many visitors, the Egyptians are letting this almost holy experience to become seriously flawed.

There must be millions of pounds pouring into Luxor but the local council cannot even provide safe steps from the boats to the top of the river bank. They don’t even provide a smoothly paved waterfront promenade. And as for all the litter…

It’s taken a British tour operator, Explore Worldwide, to recognise the problems and try to put them right by encouraging their clients to clean up the Nile beaches.

So where does the money go? Why are the local incoming agents doing nothing to improve matters? What proportion of the money pouring into the international hotel chains stays in the country?

My views have not always made me popular with the Greeks and Cypriots and I now doubt if I’ll be popular with the Egyptians. But, really…

“The ancient monuments of Egypt are one big tourism machine”