Sharm el Sheikh, Sinai, Jan 2015. Scenery of the sound and light show of the “thousand one nights”.

Sinai Park
France/Italy
www.andrea-magda.photoshelter.com

Egypt has largely bet on the tourist industry, and for the Sinai region it makes up nearly all of the economy. A risky bet, since as soon as political tensions occur, it is the entire region that is deeply affected. General Sissi, who came to power in June 2014, attempted to restore investor’s trust, showing off its many military assets as a proof a control. But the entire cost, from Taba to Sharm el Sheikh, is covered with carcasses of empty hotels, left abandoned or never completed.

The photos of this series reveal what the pipe dream of tourism industry has left in Sinai: the architecture, artificial and naïve, reveals the progressive disconnection with cultural local reality. The facilities are conforming to global standards in order to satisfy the client’s expectations. The ambition of investors far from being realistic, resulted in oversized constructions, devastating the environment. The security requirements led to an extreme closuring of the land. The Sinai has become a “non place”.