We respect court rulings, but the conflicts have created a negative image of the tourism sector among state bodies
By Akram Medhat
Ehab Abdel Aal, a member of the general assembly of the Chamber of Tourism Companies, one of the candidates in the elections for its board and head of Blumon Tours, said that the only loser from the halt of the electoral process is the tourism sector, which had hoped for elected boards backed by a strong general assembly that understands the sector's current delicate situation and the need to address urgent issues that topped the candidates' election programs and the general assembly's complaints, stressing his respect for the rulings of the Egyptian judiciary.
He added that returning to a united front is the only way out of the dark tunnel the sector entered when the elections were halted, noting that the sector is back to square one.
He continued: "The sector, along with the caretaker committees and members of the general assembly, has suffered many crises, including delays in issuing decisions, which has had a negative impact on the performance of the sector in all its categories," noting that the image of the sector held by the state and society has come to be one of disagreement, conflict and infighting, which gives a negative impression of it when decisions related to the sector are taken.
Abdel Aal stressed the importance of viewing the sector's current situation from the perspective of the public interest, of all agreeing on a unified agenda, and of managing this file collectively based on joint dialogue and mechanisms that take us out of the dark tunnel.
The general assembly member sent a message to all members to pause for a moment before the current situation and consider which is better: an elected board backed by a general assembly to resolve outstanding issues, or remaining like this, waiting for rulings in numerous cases while time is lost under caretaker committees that have given what they could within their powers and whose continuation now places more burdens on them and weakens the tourism sector in general.
It is worth mentioning that the tourism chambers elections were scheduled to be held last Sunday, September 10, but hours before they began, on Saturday evening, the State Council issued a court ruling halting the election procedures, which led the Supreme Elections Committee at the Ministry of Tourism to issue a decision postponing them until the appeals filed by the excluded candidates are decided, out of respect for court rulings.
