More than one hundred hotels under audit in area where British couple died on Thomas Cook holiday in Egypt
More than one hundred hotels in the area where a British couple died on a Thomas Cook holiday are now under audit, according to Egypt’s Minister of Tourism.
Speaking publicly about the tragedy for the first time, Rania Al-Mashat told ITV News Consumer Editor Chris Choi that 108 hotels in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada are being evaluated.
“The 108 hotels there will be evaluated based on hygiene, safety, waste management and human resources ability to deal with issues of hygiene.”
“We will be very stringent and tough in terms of the implementation of these required changes – we start with Hurghada and we are going to move to the other governorates and this is a part of a very ambitious programme that I am launching called ‘Egypt’s Tourism Reform Programme’”, she added.
Mr and Mrs Cooper, from Burnley, Lancashire, died on August 21 while on a Thomas Cook holiday at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada.
Forensic examinations carried out by the authorities in Egypt reported the couple died due to illnesses caused by the E.coli bacteria, however this was dismissed by the couple’s daughter Kelly Ormerod.
Post mortems carried out in the UK on the couple have not been able to ascertain a cause of death and further tests are being carried out.
Al-Mashat spoke to ITV News about her reaction to the couple’s death.
“It was a very difficult situation – I am a daughter – I would never like something like this happen to my parents.
“My first reaction was thinking about the daughter Kelly. We did speak on the phone while she was in Herghada. I passed on my condolences to her and to the family.”
She also offered an optimistic message to British travellers to Egypt.
“To all the British citizens – we are keen on everyone’s safety and wellbeing. Egypt has seen an increased number of visitors and people feel safe and happy and the UK market is a very important one for us.”