A government plan to promote tourism in Alexandria — Egypt's second-largest city, which is located on the Mediterranean coast 140 miles northwest of Cairo — has sparked controversy among the city's residents and holidaymakers. The plan, unveiled in recent days by Ali al-Manesterly, the chairman of the Alexandria Chamber of Travel Agencies, includes allocating private beaches exclusively for foreign visitors.

"It's insulting and deeply disturbing," Amro Ali, an Alexandria-based sociologist, said in reference to the decision. Denouncing the plan as "a form of auto-colonialism,” Ali told Al-Monitor that Alexandria was already losing its beaches due to rising sea levels and privatization. He added, "The few remaining public beaches are not well-kept, and citizens still have to pay to get in. The few good beaches that exist charge a lot of money and are beyond the means of the average Egyptian, so there is already a class barrier in place."

The Alexandria Chamber of Travel Agencies has signed agreements with Greece, Cyprus and Italy to promote Alexandria as a tourist destination in the hope of increasing the inflow of tourists from the three Mediterranean states, Manesterly was quoted as telling Al Masry Al Youm newspaper.

Direct flights to Alexandria's Borg El Arab Airport will be established under the plan, which also seeks to increase the airport's annual passenger handling capacity to 4 million passengers by 2022 — more than three times the current capacity of 1.2 million. In parallel, the number of hotel rooms will also be increased to cater to the projected growth in tourism, according to Manesterly.