The majority of hotel owners in Sharm el-Sheikh tourist villages refuse to activate the resolution that reduces rents and allows tenants to pay only 25 percent of their rent until the end of the year, said Atef Ghorab, the president of the Sharm el-Sheikh Shop Renters Coalition. South Sinai governor Khalid Fouda issued this resolution recently in an attempt to help the flailing tourism sector. “There is discontent among tenants who are threatening to enter an open-ended sit-in and organize a protest after Eid al-Adha,” said Ghorab. This sit-in will allegedly last until the governor intervenes and negotiates with the landlords to resolve the crisis. The South Sinai governor issued the decree to reduce rents to help tenants struggling both from the lack of tourism and the high rents charged by landlords. The tenants consider the rents unjust.
