US embassy warns about visiting Egypt’s pyramids of Giza

A stern warning from the US embassy in Cairo about visiting Egypt’s famed pyramids of Giza is not good news for the Egyptian economy, which depends on foreign tourism.  Giza is the site of the Great Sphinx and the Great Pyramid.
The US embassy has issued a warning for American tourists to avoid the pyramids of Giza at night, and only go if they’re with a “recommended or trusted guide,” because large crowds of people are surrounding and terrorizing cars of tourists, possibly to extort money out of them.

In recent weeks, the U.S. Embassy has become aware of an increasing number of incidents at or near the Giza Pyramids. The majority of these incidents are attributed to over-aggressive vendors, though the degree of aggressiveness in some cases is closer to criminal conduct. Other more serious incidents have been reported involving vehicles nearing the Pyramids, with angry groups of individuals surrounding and pounding on the vehicles – and in some cases attempting to open the vehicle’s doors. While the motive is less clear (possibly related to carriage operators wanting fares), it has severely frightened several visitors. A common theme from many of these reports is the lack of visible security or police in the vicinity of the Pyramids. U.S. citizens should elevate their situational awareness when traveling to the Pyramids, avoid any late evening or night travel, utilize a recommended or trusted guide, and closely guard valuables.

While expats in the region say that the US embassy often “overblows” the threat, in this case, the associate provost at the American University in Cairo, said the threat was warranted, and he issued an even sterner warning on his blog:

It’s getting really bad out there. I’ve been going off and on for 13 years, whenever a visitor is in town. So I’m pretty tough when it comes to dealing with the normal scams to which my tourist friends are subjected at the Pyramids. I’ve dealt with corrupt police, and I’ve dealt with a jerk Bedouin pretending to become very angry when I told him $100 for my friend to ride a camel for 15 minutes was ridiculous (he grabbed my shirt and screamed theatrically in my face as a police officer laughed nearby).

The Great Sphinx’s face with a set of pyramids in the background and a beautiful purple sunset sky day in Giza, Cairo, Egypt

So, it’s not like I’m easily scared by anything that happens at the Pyramids, that repository for all of Egypt’s most villainous swindlers (every nation has some). But in recent months it has become almost unbearable. It feels almost like an openly criminal environment now. The problem is not only “lack of visible security,” but in some cases the security are either working with the vendors on their scams, or are sexually harassing female foreigners quite openly, even those who are obviously accompanied by their husbands.
In short, if you visit Egypt in the near future, don’t even think of going to the Pyramids unless you’re on a large organized bus tour. Anything else is a big risk, for now. And the World Economic Forum recently ranked Egypt last among travel destinations in terms of safety.

[T]he evaluation of the safety and security environment has dropped to the lowest position of all countries covered in the Report (140th).

This is awful news for Egypt’s tourist industry, that’s suffered over the years, first from terrorism, then from the recent political unrest.  All of this led to fewer tourists:

Tourist numbers have fallen, from 14 million in 2010 to 10.2 million in 2011, and 10.5 million for 2012. The good news is that, after a sluggish start, total numbers for 2012 picked up with a strong surge toward the end of the year.

Tourism is a huge part of the Egyptian economy.  CNN reports that the tourism industry employs 18 million people in Egypt, which is an insane number.  And tourism brought in more than $10 billion in 2012.  So the news of the pyramids becoming increasingly unsafe, and the guards being either in cahoots with the criminals, or simply not caring, isn’t going to help.