Sharm el Sheiks is one of the largest tourist destinations in the Arabic world. About 15 years ago, Sharm el Sheikh was nothing but a small fishing village located at the shores of the Red Sea at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. The village with only c.a. 100 citizens had been occupied by Israel and was a restricted military area. Shortly after the militants left, the Egyptians started to build it up as a tourist destination, and it now has a population of more than 10.000 people. Sharm el Sheikh is well known for one of the best diving spots in the world and its beautiful desert that can be visited on a camel back ride. Sharm el Sheikh has also its problems. A string of terrorist bombings have occurred in the past 18 months, the most recent on April 24th 2006 and that has left a lot of holiday makers worried for their safety. Hala El Khatib a representative form the Ministry of tourism has been keen to convince tourists that it is still safe to travel to Shram el Sheikh. According to the Holiday Hit Squad opinion poll, 70 percent of tourists that have previously visited Sharm el Sheikh are happy to return to the resort opposed to the 20 percent who are concerned (10 percent were very interested to know whether travelling to Shram el Sheikh was safe or not). This can still not completely eliminate a risk of another attack.
