The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism announces its intention to use electric buses for the transport of visitors to the main tourist sites and archaeological areas of the country. The measure is ecological, but its main reason is zoological. It aims at preserving the animals that are bending under the weight of tourism.
The pyramids of the Giza Plateau in the North-East of Egypt will soon experience a revolution in the means of transport available to visitors. The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism offers electric cars and buses to take tourists around the pyramids and the archaeological areas of the country.
This is in line with the new vision of mobility as advocated by the sustainable city concepts. The use of electric vehicles is an eco-responsible option, as they emit much less greenhouse gases (GHG) than petrol vehicles. However, for the ecological advantage of electric vehicles advertised in Egyptian tourist sites to become a reality, the electricity used by these vehicles would have to come from a renewable source. These details will certainly be provided during the design and implementation phase of the electric mobility project in Egypt’s tourist sites.
The end of animal abuse in tourist circuits in Egypt?
The electric mobility project announced by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism is above all born of a situation denounced by more than 500,000 animal rights activists. In April 2019, the Asia branch of the animal protection NGO Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) published a survey revealing the mistreatment of camels and horses in the transport of tourists around the pyramids “beatings, dehydration, under nutrition, lack of care… ”We don’t know the exact figures, but it is estimated that several hundred horses and camels are mistreated on these Egyptian tourist sites”, deplores Anissa Putois from the NGO Peta France.
This report by the NGO Peta will trigger a wave of indignation about animal abuse in Egyptian tourism, pushing the government to take action. Hence the announcement by the Ministry of Tourism to replace animal backs with electric cars.
Boris Ngounou
