Dahab bombing: Tourism crisis and recovery in Egypt

By David Beirman

Terrorist attacks against tourists now represent the Egyptian tourism industry's greatest challenge. The Dahab bombing on April 24 was the fifth attack against tourists or tourism infrastructure in Egypt within the space of 18 months. Since October 2004, over 125 people have been killed and many hundreds injured in the five attacks. The three most serious incidents occurred on the Sinai. Terrorist attacks over the past 18 months represent the resumption of a pattern of terrorism which targeted tourists during the 1990s and culminated in the Luxor massacre of November 1997 in which 58 foreign tourists were shot dead.

The lengthy pause in terrorist attacks against tourists in Egypt between late 1997 and late 2004 marked a period of significant international inbound tourism growth to Egypt. Tourist arrivals more than doubled from 3.9 million to 8.1 million during the seven year period. After Luxor, Egypt's government and tourism industry instituted a broad range of major security measures for tour groups, hotels and resorts, the transportation network and major attractions. 

The Egyptian tourism industry exuded confidence until the first of the new wave of terrorism in October 2004 which specifically targeted tourists. The bombing of the Taba Hilton on the Red Sea less than a kilometer from the Israeli border, was primarily targeted at Israelis, although casualties in this attack included Egyptians and several other nationalities. At the time, Egyptian tourist authorities could claim with some justification that this incident was an aberrant event targeting Israelis and not an overall attack on international tourists.

Acts of terrorism against tourists since October 2004 in Sharm El Sheikh, Cairo and now Dahab, are more random in their targeting and as a result the arguments that they are aberrant events are difficult to sustain.

To date, Egypt's tourism industry has proven highly resilient to the recent acts of terrorism. Tourism to Sharm el Sheikh recovered quickly after the July 2005 terrorist strike. The 2004 and 2005 attacks had marginal impact on overall tourism growth to Egypt, passing the 9 million mark in 2005. Through the media and the ETA's websites, it has been possible for Egypt's tourism marketers to communicate to the travel trade and consumer market the distinction between the overall safety in Egypt's mass tourism destinations of Cairo and the Nile Valley and the increased risk to Sinai, a significant attraction but primarily a niche market and secondary destination for foreign tourists to Egypt.

The April 24 Taba attack against tourists followed so closely by the attempted suicide bombings against multinational observer troops in Sinai focuses unwelcome attention on the Sinai as a destination. Sinai's problems filter through to broader perceptual problems concerning the safety of destination Egypt.

The implications for Egypt's tourism industry and its national marketing are clear. Egypt's tourism professionals have considerable experience in restoring confidence in their country's tourism especially since the early 1990s. This experience is especially valuable now. In the early 1990s the Egyptian Tourist Authority commissioned Martin Langford of the US-based consultancy firm, Burson- Marsteller, to assist the ETA's implementation of a strategy to restore tourism confidence following a spate of terrorist attacks against tourists. The Langford approach is as relevant in 2006 as it was in 1993, only the technology has undergone radical change.

Langford's main principles of restoring confidence in Egypt were eork with the media as an ally, not an adversary; centralize communications and information flow; honestly define the problem; contain the problem and place it in perspective; identify and work with allies; and clarify and communicate measures taken to address the problem.

Globally, the field of effective tourism crisis and recovery management is not developed. However, the six core points outlined above represent the key issues which the Egyptian tourism industry and its representatives are trying to address in dealing with the current situation.

The challenge for Egypt is to limit the damage the Dahab bombing has caused its tourism industry and to demonstrate to the world travel industry and prospective travelers that Egypt is taking all possible measures to minimize the risk to tourists from terrorism.

Egypt's problems are certainly not unique. The past patterns of murderous attacks in Egypt point to tourists as the prime target of political extremism. As tourism is vital to Egypt's economy and by far its greatest employer, Egypt has no alternative but to deal proactively with the reality of terrorism.

The global tourism industry will be tested by the degree to which it supports its Egyptian colleagues.

Dr. David Beirman is the author of Restoring Tourism Destinations in Crisis. He is the director of Struan & Associates and specializes in tourism crisis and recovery.