Top Stories
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Egypt’s economy in a tailspin as tourism & investment dries up
DestinationsEgypt is suffering its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, a former finance minister of the country and one of its leading economists have warned. In terms of its devastating effect on Egypt’s poorest, the country’s current economic predicament is at its most dire since the 1930s, Galal Amin, professor of economics at the [...]
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Egypt’s private commandos are doing well during current instability
DestinationsAs angry protesters rampaged through Cairo in early 2011 and fought with police, Hesham Samy was dispatched with fellow naval commandos to guard upscale residential compounds. In what he saw as “awful” security, Samy spotted an opportunity. The officer, who had spent more than a year training with U.S. Navy SEALs, quit last year to [...]
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Nigeria is world’s second biggest spender on champagne
DestinationsThe lyrics to Pop Champagne – one of many Nigerian pop songs to pay homage to the ubiquitous French drink – are self explanatory. “We dey pop champagne, pop pop pop pop, pop champagne!” the song goes, as a nightclub jumps with men holding bottles and women glasses full of bubbly. But Nigerians’ love of [...]
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Egypt to live stream from tourist destinations to show it is safe
DestinationsEgypt’s Minister of Tourism, HE Hisham Zaazou has revealed that the Egyptian Government is attempting to attract Arab Families with special offers in a bid to boost tourism figures. Speaking at a satellite event scheduled for the ATM at Raffles Dubai, Zaazou also explained that live camera streams had been set up in popular tourist [...]
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Ritz-Carlton makes a bet on Tunisia and Morocco with 3 new properties
DestinationsThe Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company has announced the brand’s latest property in its growing North Africa portfolio. The Ritz-Carlton Marrakech and its first property in Rabat, Morocco, which will become the third property in the brand’s growing North Africa portfolio. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company expects the resort to open in December 2014. The resort will benefit [...]
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Algerian tourism industry battered by regional violence
DestinationsIt is coming up to sunset in Beni Isguen, one of five oasis villages inhabited by the Mozabite ethnic people in this valley in central Algeria, which it was once the busiest time of the day…Some days, hundreds of tourists would arrive in buses to see the dramatic scenery and weird, mud architecture. But this [...]
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Egypt: booze and bikinis are welcome, nevermind the Salafis
DestinationsIslamist-ruled Egypt is open to visitors who drink alcohol and wear bikinis as it sets out to boost numbers by at least a fifth this year, the tourism minister said on Sunday. Tourism is a pillar of the Egyptian economy but has suffered since a popular uprising toppled President Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and set [...]
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Egyptian tourism experiences hills and valleys, will take years to recover
DestinationsTWO years of political upheaval have battered tourism, a motor of Egypt’s economy. Much of the Nile cruise fleet lies idle. Trinket-sellers and would-be guides at the Giza pyramids are so hungry for custom that they often mob or simply jump aboard approaching taxis. And though the damage has been patchy, with beach resorts still [...]
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Ethiopian Airlines first to get Dreamliner airborne after six-month grounding
DestinationsEthiopian Airlines on Saturday resumed flying Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner passenger jets three months after the globe fleet were grounded over the failure of its battery system. The flag carrier flew to Nairobi, Kenya becoming the first airliner to restart flying 787 Dreamliner since the grounding in late January. Aviation authorities have confirmed that the newly [...]
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Sudan’s historic treasures get at $135 million lifeline from Qatar
DestinationsThe Sudanese tourism minister Mohamed Abdul-Karim Al-Had, disclosed that Qatar is offering $135 million in a joint Sudanese-Qatari project to removate100 archaeological sites in Sudan’s Northern and Nahr Alneel state. The Sudanese official, who spoke at a news conference on Thursday, said that Qatar will offer scientific advice to the National Archeological Center and will [...]
