Egypt has strengthened its security precautions to ensure Chinese visitors a safe trip, the head of the Egyptian tourism board said yesterday in Shanghai.

A series of emergency measures have been taken following the three coordinated bomb blasts that rocked Sharm el-Sheik last Saturday, killing at least 88 people, according to Ahmed El-Khadem, head of the Egyptian tourism development bureau. He was in town for a promotional tour that was scheduled long before the terrorist attacks.

Since two blasts happened in parking lots, Egypt has reinforced parking lot management regulations in its major cities, he said.

He said hotels in Egypt are safe for tourists.

"The fact that one explosion went off outside the hotel instead of inside the hotel simply proves that our hotels are well guarded and extremely difficult to intrude," he said.

Besides, thousands of tourist police are on patrol around the scenic sites, airports, docks and vehicle stations.

Each tour bus is equipped with a tourist policeman, who accompanies travelers to-and-from hotels and different destinations, El-Khadem said.

More than 13,000 Chinese leisure travelers visited Egypt during the first six months of this year.

Last year, about 23,000 Chinese toured the northeast African country.

El-Khadem said 95 percent of Chinese tourists went to Egypt in groups. Historic sites in cities such as Cairo, Alexandria, Aswan and Luxor were their major destinations.

No Chinese tour groups visit Sharm.

The cheapest one-week tour to Egypt costs about 8,000 yuan (US$988), according to local travel agencies.

Currently, there are no direct flights between Shanghai and Egypt. Starting on November 1, locals will be able to take Egyptian Airlines' flights from Beijing to Cairo.

(Shanghai Daily July 26, 2005)