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religious tourism ready for revival

egypt’s plethora of historical religious sites – which includes mount sinai, along with thousands of churches and mosques – has attracted followers of the world’s three monotheistic faiths for millennia. while these sites really used to pull in the pilgrims, religious visits to egypt are believed to be on the decline. industry specialists attribute this less to regional political instability than to the failure to capitalize on a potentially lucrative market.

according to elhamy el-zayat, ceo of emeco travel and chairman of the egyptian federation of tourism chambers (eftc), religious tourism is one of the most robust niches of the tourism market. “this kind of special travel hardly suffers any losses from regional instabilities,” he told business monthly, “because once these tourists have decided to come, they don’t change their minds, even if some minor incident takes place, such as the [october 7] taba bombings.”

he said religious tourism is an underexploited niche that – given the right circumstances – could yield a more significant portion of the country’s tourism revenue. “to a number of people, religious tourism could be of interest as part of an overall trip,” he explained, adding that exact figures are unknown because most pilgrims visit egypt as part of recreational tour packages.

according ahmed el-khadem, head of the egyptian tourism authority (eta), the us is the principal market for organized tours of christian pilgrims, who usually visit egypt as part of a wider “holy land” tour of israel, jordan and palestinian territories. orthodox christians from eastern european countries are also lured to egypt’s religious sites, albeit in lesser numbers.

for them, egypt offers scores of biblical sites and early christian antiquities, as well as a taste of living coptic christian culture. “if rome is the principal attraction for catholics, egypt can boast the relics of st. mark the evangelist and the local egyptian tradition of the holy family,” noted sociologist cornelis hulsman, co-author of be thou there, a book about the holy family’s sojourn in egypt.
egypt’s islamic sites, meanwhile, attract not only muslim tourists, but also non-muslims who are interested in the historic value of mosques rather than the spiritual value, said ahmad allam, the head of tourism at mena travel. he pointed out that most of the muslims who visit egypt strictly for religious purposes are shia muslims. “shiites come only to visit mosques, such as the al-hussein and al-hakim mosques,” he said. “but their number is very limited.”

el-khadem pointed out that shia pilgrims were frequent visitors to egypt in the 1970s, but their numbers fell in tandem with worsening relations between cairo and tehran after iran’s 1979 islamic revolution. most shia visitors these days are dawoodi bohara (a shia sect) from india, who make special journeys for religious purposes.

one dawoodi bohara pilgrim from india, visiting the al-hakim mosque in old cairo, said that she came to egypt regularly with her family to visit shia mosques, particularly those in cairo. the highlight of her visit, she said, was cairo’s al-hussein mosque, where the head of shia martyr al-hussein is said to be buried. “these old mosques and religious sites have a special religious value,” she explained. “when we pray here, our wishes come true.”

jewish religious tourism has also waned in recent years due to political tensions stemming from the arab-israeli conflict. hundreds of old testament sites dot the egyptian landscape and are mostly visited by western jews as part of christian holy land tours. the handful of religious sites and events of strictly jewish importance see few visitors these days.

one event, the annual moulid of abu hasira, celebrates the birth of a moroccan rabbi who died in egypt while on his way to jerusalem. the annual eight-day festival, held at the mystic’s shrine near the delta town of damanhour, once attracted thousands of jewish pilgrims from all over the mediterranean – mostly morocco, tunisia and france.

egypt officially sanctioned the jewish festival following the signing of its peace treaty with israel in 1979, but has discouraged visitors since the outbreak of the palestinian intifada in late 2000. last year, a cairo administrative court removed the shrine’s protective antiquity status, effectively banning the festival. the ruling upheld an earlier one by an alexandria court that declared the shrine and its associated festival to be “offensive” given the political climate.

israeli embassy officials confirmed that attendance has dwindled. “the numbers mainly depend on the relationship between the two countries and the security situation,” said one embassy employee. “during the intifada, the numbers went down. we only know of one or two groups that will be coming this year.”

eta’s el-khadem is hopeful that arab-israeli relations are on the mend and jewish tourism will once again pick up. “we hope that as the political climate improves, relations will be restored, and we will start to see this kind of tourism again,” he said.

in an effort to attract tourists of all religions, the ministries of tourism and culture have begun restoring a number of historical religious sites. in 2000, the government launched a tourism initiative to promote the sojourn of the holy family in egypt, carrying out extensive renovations in old cairo. a number of travel and religious organizations now offer special packages that follow the route of the holy family in egypt, visiting the stops that according to tradition the holy family made during its three-year stay in egypt.

another project is geared towards shia pilgrims. the ministries recently published a guidebook, written in arabic and persian, to egypt’s shia holy places. the ministries have also spent £e 12 million on a walking tour project linking islamic shrines associated with members of prophet muhammad’s family.

yet despite government expenditure on renovation projects, there has been very little in the way of return, said abdallah kamel el-attar, head of the islamic and coptic antiquities department at the supreme council for antiquities (sca). for example, he explained, the government spent some £e 25 million to renovate the coptic monastery of saint anthony on the red sea, but does not receive any revenue from the site, which is free to all visitors.

in 2000, entrance fees to all places of worship were canceled by ministerial decree. previously, foreign tourists (including muslims) were charged ticket prices of up to £e 12 to enter functioning historical mosques, a toll that infuriated many visitors who believed “houses of god” should be free to all.

the government’s decision to drop the fees came at the insistence of al-azhar and the coptic patriarchate, the highest religious authorities. kamel, however, sees the decision as loss of potential revenue that could be used to “renovate the sites and develop the surrounding areas, as well as pay employee salaries.

he said tourists not affiliated with organized religious tours should be required to pay entry fees, while pilgrims should be exempted. he gave the example of saint catherine’s monastery, an ancient orthodox christian monastery in sinai. the site receives “busloads of tourists, the majority of whom aren’t there for worship,” he said. “this is how we’re losing sources of revenue and hard currency.”
a drive to reinstitute fees is gaining momentum. in 2003, the sca reinstated entry fees at two of cairo’s historic mosques, al-sultan mosque and al-rifa’i mosque. saint catherine’s monastery continues to offer free entrance, but as of january 1, 2005, a $3 park entrance fee is collected from foreign visitors entering the national park in which it is located.

ultimately, noted hulsman, pilgrims can offer egypt a lot more than just revenue. “religious tourism has the potential to change the image of the country,” he stressed. “in the west, you hear about problems in egypt, such as [restrictions imposed on] church building – but there should be positive aspects.”

ola galal

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