[Ynet] Cairo media, Sinai resort owners express both excitement and fear at expected waves of tourist from Islamic Theocratic Republicafter commercial flights between two countries resume; holy mans fear that Iranians will spread Shiite belief
More than 50 Iranian
The tourists, who according to a security official arrived on some of the first commercial flights between the two countries in three decades, will be restricted in their movement following objections from some ultraconservative Sunni Moslems to receiving visitors from Shiite Iran.
As the first commercial flight between Egypt and Iran in 34 years took off on Saturday, Egyptian media expressed ambivalence toward the normalizing of ties with the Islamic Theocratic
Republic.
In a piece by Cairo's Al-Aharam newspaper, it was written that the Egyptians were both expecting Iranian tourism and afraid of its ramifications, fearing it might spread the Shiite belief across Egypt.
As in other areas, tourism in Egypt has suffered a halt since the 2011 revolution. Riots, road accidents and
Biting the hands that fed them...
Those whose livelihood depends on tourism thus await the Iranian groups, in hopes that they could catalyze the end of the economic crisis.
Ali Khalil, the owner of a Red Sea resort, said: "I welcome the arrival of Iranian tourists to the region as well the arrival of tourists from anywhere else."
"Especially if they have dollars. Swiss francs are even better. Don't bring Euros."
"The tourist is genuinely different from the politician, the holy man or the bad turban. We must look at the Iranian tourist as we do at all the other tourists that arrive here for pleasure or for cultural pursuits."
As for the fear that Iranians might spread Shiite belief across the country, Khalil added: "We have Israeli and Buddhist tourists coming to Sinai; it doesn't mean they spread Buddhism in Egypt."
You sir are far too sensible to live in Egypt...
However,
there's always another opinion that can be found, no matter how obscure...
Ali Reza, the owner of a different resort, insisted that "no one can deny the fact that Iranians are fighting to spread the Shia while we fight to maintain our Sunni identity."
Though reserved, Reza also welcomed the arrival of the tourists.
Salem Saleh, the director of Sharm el-Sheikh's Tourism Authority, noted that since there were no Shiite mosques in his region, he saw no reason to be apprehensive about religious coercion. "The city is not meant to draw religious tourism, which makes the spreading of Shia impossible," he said.