Egypt moves to shore up tourism sector in shadow of Gaza war

 Egypt is offering incentives to shore up its tourism industry in southern Sinai on the Red Sea, with fallout from the conflict in the Gaza Strip so far contained to under 10% of bookings in the country, the Egyptian tourism minister said on Monday.

Tourism, a key source of scarce foreign currency for Egypt, was on track to earn more than $13 billion this year and hit a target of 15 million visitors, despite some delayed reservations for the end of the year, Ahmed Issa said in an interview.

Ratings firm S&P Global warned on Monday that a fall in tourism due to the Gaza war could cause significant problems in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. Some travellers are cancelling or postponing holidays to the Middle East and North Africa.

"So far the impact is on the customers who have bought the regional products, because the tourism sector in Israel has actually practically shut down, so this is where we're seeing the most significant impact," Issa said on the sidelines of the World Travel Market trade fair in London.