It's one of the greatest tourist attractions on earth.
Fantastic shades of multi-colour illuminate the awesome pyramids dominating the Egyptian night sky to the delight of tourists.
Yet this awe-inspiring spectacle remains virtually deserted every night as holidaymakers shun the 'jewel of the Middle East'.
Somber pictures taken this week show the rows of empty seats at the Light and Sound Show, below the historic pyramids in Cairo.

Deserted: Rows of empty seats this week where there were once throngs of wide-eyed tourists watching the Sound and Light show at the pyramids in Cairo

What a difference a year makes: The same show last year included a brass band, incredible sound system, hundreds of excited tourists and a breath-taking light display
Only a year earlier the show had been fully-booked every night. Dozens of tourists cooed as they watched the landmarks change to shades of purple, green, red and blue among others. Vast beams of light were shot into the air by high-tech lasers.
Egypt had been on the verge of its own economic revolution, with booming tourism and impressive developments of apartments, offices and flats around the country.
But this revolution went no further. In its place were the scenes of violence and mass protest in Tahrir Square in February which became known as the 'Arab Spring'.

Bright: High-tech lights illuminate one of the pyramids but the decline of tourism after the 'Arab Spring' means the stunning sight is seen by only a handful of people

Light fantastic: The Sphinx turns green while in the distance one of the great pyramids is illuminated
And their cautiousness has been proven right, as recent violent demonstrations against military rule have shown.
At least 40 people have been killed in fierce clashes in the past week alone as protesters have demanded the resignation of the army commanders. Egypt’s military ruler warned of ‘extremely grave’ consequences if the turbulent nation did not pull through its current crisis.
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi said: ‘We will not allow troublemakers to meddle in the elections. Egypt is at a crossroads – either we succeed politically, economically and socially or the consequences will be extremely grave and we will not allow that.
'None of this would have happened if there were no foreign hands. We will not allow a small minority of people who don’t understand to harm Egypt’s stability.’
Protesters, who have once again camped out in Tahrir Square, said that they had come under fire from a police sniper.
The violence has proved how fragile the region is. Even after elections in the coming weeks, Islamic parties are expected to take control.
The elections are likely to be dominated by the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood. Analysts think they could win roughly a third of votes, likely to be far greater than the hundreds of small parties who will each get only a fraction of the vote.
The tourism industry has also so far been one of the main losers since violence began in the country, which saw the former president Hosni Mubarak ousted.
It is estimated that the unrest has cost the Egyptian economy some $310million a day, or at least $30 billion over the course of the year.
One of the indirect victims has been travel agents Thomas Cook. The firm saw a 70 per cent fall in its share price this week.

Unrest: An injured protester is carried away by fellow Egyptians during recent clashes with security forces near Tahrir Square in Cairo

Ragtag: Protesters and tents are seen in Tahrir Square on the day that the country voted for its new government, which could turn out to be an Islamic group
Despite the drop in visitor numbers, the country's tourism board is trying to lure back holidaymakers with a string of advertising campaigns.
Egypt's promotional push portrays the region's potential as a safe and attractive holiday destinations.
‘Welcome to the country of peaceful revolution’ is the slogan that Egypt has settled on.
Tim Kreatif tik-fanny.blogspot.com (editorial USA)
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar