The haphazard way in which tourism has developed in the Red Sea area has had a devastating effect on the natural environment, in particular marine life.

“When they started selling the Red Sea coastline, they took a map divided into a blue section, the sea, a yellow section, the land, and a black line — the road,” El-Sonbati said.

“They just split up the section between the road and the sea into portions and sold them.”

Having bought their land, investors discovered that coral reefs on the shore would prevent guests from accessing the sea easily. The solution? “They put dynamite and blew up the corals,” Mahmoud El Kaissouni, a consultant to the Ministry of Tourism told Daily News Egypt.

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