Controversy over Italian student's murder threatens Egypt's tourism sector

On April 2, the Italian Association for Responsible Tourism (AITR) issued a statement noting that all its travel packages to Egypt would be suspended “until the tragic events of [Giulio] Regeni’s murder are revealed.” Regeni, an Italian graduate student conducting research in Egypt, went missing on the fifth anniversary of the January 25 Revolution. His body was found Feb. 3 on the outskirts of Cairo with clear signs of torture.

The decision of AITR, a nongovernmental association, comes amid ambiguity concerning investigations into the murder and a lack of confidence on the part of the Italian authorities as well as Regeni’s family about the integrity of the Egyptian investigation. Regeni’s mother has criticized the Egyptian authorities for a lack of transparency concerning the investigation and said she was prepared to publish a photo of his battered body if authorities do not share their findings. On April 8, Italy recalled its ambassador to Egypt due to a lack of progress in the murder investigation.

The decision raised the concerns of Magdi al-Banoudi, an Egyptian consultant on international tourism, who said Egypt has already lost 50% of the UK market and the entire Russian market. He said the majority of the Egyptian tourism enterprises are operating at about 25% of their normal capacity due to the stagnation in tourist traffic.

Banoudi told Al-Monitor, “A large number of tourist offices and institutions in Egypt depend on Italian tourists as a main source of income that cannot be overlooked. Egypt managed to attract about 1 million Italian tourists in 2010. However, this number has been steadily declining over the past five years, despite marketing efforts by Egyptians to restore the normal tourist activity in the country.”