Egyptian summer vacation and how changed over the years

Amal Ali 11 Aug 2022

Going on a summer holiday is one of the main activities that Egyptians are keen on doing every year. All families agree on the importance of going to the beach every summer vacation. With different social classes and preferences, no one disagrees with this activity, and the summer vacation remains the biggest goal to be achieved during the summer vacation.

In recent decades, the nature of summer vacations in Egypt has evolved. With the change of generations, the places that Egyptians go to for vacation have completely changed, and the activities that young people are keen to practice have changed.

Today in this article we will take you on a tour between the past and the present to know what summer vacations looked like in the past decades and how it has become in recent years.

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How did the summer vacation start in Egypt?

Summering did not appear in its current form until the first half of the twentieth century. Until the 23 July revolution, the percentage of citizens who left their cities and villages to go to the beach was estimated at 0.5% of the citizens at that time. The peasants used to go to the branches of the Nile in their villages to get rid of the summer heat, and even they gave the Nile in their villages the word sea. As for the act of summer in its true sense, it remained confined to a small percentage of the Egyptian society, and a smaller percentage was able to go to summer in Europe or outside Egypt.

Egyptian society opened up to the idea of resorts after the 23 July revolution, where the revolution enabled them to lift the class barrier between them and the elite class of society which controlled beaches such as Miami for a long time. Entry fees were imposed on the beach. After the revolution, entry to the beach became free, which changed the shape of the beach to include families from the mid and lower classes who came with cooking utensils and food. From here, a new high class begins to appear in Egyptian society, which is the class that went started renting apartments, chalets, or villas on Maamoura Beach.

From here, we understand that Alexandria played a major role in shaping the identity of the summer in Egypt, as it included beaches for all groups of society, such as Maamoura, Miami, and Al-Agami. Thus, the city of Alexandria is the only city in Egypt that has maintained its status as a summer destination for the past 100 years. Until now, the city of Alexandria remains the main destination for the summer for a large segment of the Egyptian community.

Summer is more than water and air

Egypt possesses a group of stunning beaches that have no equal in the world. Beaches expand over both the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. It is not only Egypt's possession of beaches that distinguishes the summer season in it, but the outstanding diversity of the beaches is what fascinates all visitors or tourists. You will enjoy calm nature, blue water, high waves, and soft white sand on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. On the other side, you will find mesmerizing mountain chains and dazzling desert nature on the Red Sea, which is considered one of the most beautiful seas that have aquatic life and rare coral reefs.

At first, summer seekers had to endure long distances to get some quiet moments. But in the last ten years, the shape of the resort has changed to become part of its components, which are parties and bustle life, and the North Coast comes at the forefront of destinations that provide this type of vacation. Every year, a new fashion trend emerges and pictures of summer residents on the coast spread on all social media sites. People compete to publish pictures of night parties. Even the north coast has a specific physical appearance that young people begin to prepare for months before the summer season.

Vacationers in Egypt are divided into two types. The first type is those who seek adventure and enjoy nature, and you will find that most of them head to the Red Sea, where it provides them with a wide range of activities and adventures such as snorkeling, surfing, camping, and safari. In contrast to the past decades, the cities of the Red Sea have become one of the most popular coastal destinations for Egyptians for domestic tourism. As for foreigners, they come specifically to visit the shores of the Red Sea. Among the most attractive cities currently are Ain Sukhna, Dahab, Taba, Nuweiba, Hurghada, and the recently famous Marsa Alam. As for the second type of summer vacationers, who are looking for relaxation and close destinations to Cairo, they head directly to the northern coast. One of the factors that helped increase the popularity of the North Coast is the development of highways leading to the coast, so you can now reach cities like Marsa Matrouh in less than four hours. Among the most recent roads leading to the coast currently are the Fouka Road, the Dabaa Road, and others.

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The story of the coast from Al-Agami to Ras Al-Hikma

In earlier times, the summer was limited to certain limited cities, especially Alexandria, in addition to Ras El Bar and Marsa Matrouh, and because of Matrouh's distance from Cairo, it was not one of the easily accessible places. In the sixties, Port Said, Suez, and Ismailia, were also among the provinces famous for being a destination for summer but the cities of the Canal were affected after the setback of 67 because of the battles that took place in them and disappeared from the map of summer. Then these cities began to regain their strength again after the 6th of October War.

One of the most common phenomena in Egyptian society is that the destination where you pass your summer expresses the social class of individuals, so you always find divisions of cities and beaches that people visit. The North Coast is the biggest evidence for this theory, as with the launch of every new project opened by the elite of the community, and as soon as a larger number of Egyptians begin to visit it, the elite rush to escape and crawl to another city.

This game of hit and run kept recurring, starting with Al-Agami in Alexandria, then to Marina, and from Marina, a series of projects and resorts began to spread. Even the coast was divided into two regions and they are called the nice coast and the evil coast. The nice coast extends only from kilo 21 to kilo 105, and then the bad coast starts from El Alamein up until Marsa Matrouh and includes new areas such as Sidi Abdel Rahman and Ras El Hikma. What distinguishes the new resorts on the North Coast is their beautiful architectural designs and the distinguished services offered by real estate developers in their projects.

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Beachwear crisis every summer

Surely you have heard before about the crises that dominate the summer season every year due to swimwear problems. For many years, beaches in Egypt were preserved by a specific class of Egyptian society. But with the development and the ability of different classes to enjoy the beaches, one of the social problems that our society suffers from each summer season has emerged.

People's classification of each other is subject to the type of swimwear they are wearing and accordingly judgments are made and some actions may be taken. You will find that villages prevent people from entering according to their clothes and other resorts stipulate that you belong to a certain class of society so that you can own units in their projects, even if you can afford the unit price. All of these scenes monitor the social changes of the Egyptians, which is part of the nature of changing societies.

Family trip or social prestige

The social classification of society still controls the idea of the summer. While the lower classes remain inside their cities and villages due to their inability to bear the costs of the summer vacations, the middle class seeks to provide for the expenses of the resort throughout the year, either by saving or by entering into associations, but they remain keen to maintain the custom of summer every year. As for the more luxurious classes, they are looking for every new destination that is announced to launch fashion and trends every year, and many of them may also go to invest in coastal real estate.

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One of the most distinguishing features of summer trips is that they are activities that bring families together. It was always a good opportunity to gather family members and have fun together. All generations of the 80s and 90s have vivid memories until this day of summer nights out with the family, sharing food, and sharing the same chalet or apartment.

Nowadays, summer trips have become multiple and have other reasons. Young people go together on a trip to the coast to engage in a new social pattern and join the elite there. Family trips became fewer and replaced.

But in the end, no matter how different the social classes and whatever the type and location of the resort, the act of summer will remain a part of the Egyptians’ conscience, and making memories is the most beautiful gift that stays with you for years to remind you of spending beautiful times with your family and friends.

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