Egypt's fragile tourism sector braces for virus impact

Just when Egypt's crucial tourism sector was recovering from years of political tumult and jihadist attacks, the industry finds itself bracing for a potential buffeting by the new coronavirus.

The guesthouse where Bassam Hamimi works in archaeologically rich southern Egypt usually hosts numerous tourists from China, but since the outbreak of the deadly virus, far fewer have arrived.

"There were heaps more Chinese before. But since the coronavirus appeared in China, their absence has been felt here," Hamimi told AFP recently in a Nubian village near Aswan, 900 kilometres south of Cairo, a popular destination for tourists.

Many flights that would have carried visitors to Egypt have been cancelled amid efforts to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The virus had infected over 110,000 people worldwide and killed more than 3,800 as of Monday, disrupting travel and delivering a blow to the global economy far beyond its Chinese epicentre.

Hamimi said he was concerned that a dip in tourists visiting Pharaonic temples would hit his income, a worry shared by many in the country.

Egypt has not been spared the virus' spread, reporting on Sunday the country's -- and Africa's -- first fatality from the illness, a 60-year-old German tourist who died in the Red Sea resort town of Hurghada.

At the end of February, several countries, including France and Canada, announced infections among people who had visited Egypt.

The north African nation had reported 55 infections by Monday, a number that includes 45 from the cruise ship "A-Sara", docked near the southern city of Luxor, the beating heart of Pharaonic tourism.

"Preventative measures that countries have taken with regards to travel because of the virus will for sure affect the tourism sector" in Egypt, Adela Ragab, a former deputy tourism minister, told AFP.

But, she added, "it's hard to predict what will happen. We can really (start to) assess the situation if Easter bookings are affected in April."