Thou shalt have no alcohol at my hotel

In a stunning display of religious orthodoxy, the Saudi owner of a five-star hotel in Cairo in May banned the serving of alcohol by reportedly dumping more than USD 300,000 of beer, wine and whiskey into the river Nile.

The Los Angeles Times reported on 22 June 2008 that Sheikh Abdel Aziz Ibrahim, a relative of Saudi Arabia´s King Abdullah, has ordered that no more cocktails will be mixed or stirred at his Grand Hyatt Cairo. The sheikh commanded the 2,500 bottles of alcoholic beverages at the hotel to be flushed down the drain, without providing any notice to the American hotel chain managing the property, Hyatt International. So it´s good bye to Martinis and Sundowners and hello to ice teas.

The move is a gesture to bring his business into conformity with Islamic standards.

That may be so, but the Egyptian Hotel Association has its own rules and in a rare incident of agreeing with western ideas of liberalism has given Ibrahim an ultimatum: Either put the alcohol back by 2 July 2008 or have his hotel demoted from five to two stars.

Although alcohol is forbidden in Islam, Egyptian law allows the consumption of booze in hotels and other tourist haunts. Hotel rules dictate that any hotel above two stars must serve alcohol. An owner is also not allowed to interfere in the running of affairs when there is a managing company.

The decision to ban alcohol at such a popular destination has rocked Egypt´s tourism industry, which handled 11.1 million tourists last year, employs 12 percent of the active population and accounts for 11.6 percent of the country´s Gross National Product. It was reported that Europeans, who make up two-thirds of Egypt´s tourists, including 1.5 million Russians, consume 80 percent of Egypt´s wine. At least 400,000 tourists from Saudi Arabia hit Egypt´s capital for some sun and fun, indifferent to the sale of alcohol, strictly banned at home.

For Egyptian authorities, protective of the lucrative industry which brings in 20 percent of foreign currency receipts, the spread of Islamism must stop at the doorstep of touristic establishments. Cairo doesn´t want to give the impression that conservative Islam is spreading.

"If he doesn´t want to serve alcohol, it´s his choice. If that doesn´t comply with our regulations, he has to bear the consequences," Tourism Minister Zoheir Garranah was quoted as saying.