Hurghada Deports Foreign Workers Selling Unlicensed Excursions in Tourism Crackdown

Hurghada has seen intensive security campaigns against foreign workers breaching the rules in the tourism sector, coordinated with the chamber of tourism companies. A number of those caught were dealt with legally and deported to their own countries, according to Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Sayed al-Gabry, head of the chamber of tourism and travel companies in Hurghada, said the campaigns targeted foreigners organising and selling tourist trips without a licence, at low prices that damage licensed companies and the public purse.

He said the checks also covered:

• entities selling excursion and activity trips without paying tax or insurance
• the legal status of foreign workers
• work and residency permits, and whether the job actually being done matches the permit issued
• whether any tourism activity is being run without the required licences

Selling and organising trips and tour programmes needs strong oversight, al-Gabry said, to make sure it is done through licensed companies and bodies.

Bashar Abu Talib, head of the tourist guides' syndicate, welcomed the campaigns against unlicensed operations run by foreigners in breach of labour and residency law. Employing foreign workers must follow the rules governing the labour market, he said: the worker needs a work permit and must complete the residency and employment procedures.

Protecting Egyptian workers does not mean shutting out the foreign staff some tourism activities need, Abu Talib said - it means applying the law to everyone, and making sure foreign workers are employed formally, with permits, insurance and tax paid. He called for more inspections of unlicensed operators, particularly in selling and organising trips and in guiding, legal action against establishments employing workers in breach, and wider training programmes so more Egyptians qualify for the jobs the sector needs.

The report does not say how many people were caught or deported, over what period the campaigns ran, or which nationalities were involved.

For the many foreign residents working in Hurghada's tourism trade, the practical point is that permits are being matched against the work actually being done. For visitors, it is a reason to book excursions through a licensed operator: the cheap trip sold on a street corner is exactly what these campaigns are aimed at.