Reinvigorating tourism is something the vendors want the new parliament to make its top priority. They see the Islamists as honest brokers devoid of the corruption and greed that plagued the Mubarak government. But some of the things newly elected Islamist lawmakers are saying, have many in Egypt's tourist trade scratching their heads. Recently, Brotherhood party member, Azza al Jarf, told a crowd of supporters in front of the Great Pyramids that tourists can do without alcohol when they come to Egypt. Ultra-conservative Salafist candidates have taken it a step further, by demanding a ban on all alcohol sales. They've also called for segregating Egypt's beaches by sex and banning revealing swimwear. Such proposals will only make the tourism slump worse, predicts Mohammed el Gendy, who sells religious trinkets in the Khan el Khalili market. Egyptian tourism experts and officials agree. Hisham Zaazou is the senior assistant tourism minister. These are irresponsible statements in my opinion, that, even if said by responsible people, I believe they do not understand the set up of the industry and the dynamics of it. The math is simple, Zaazou says: Four out of five tourists who come to Egypt, do so for leisure vacations at the beach, rather than to visit the Pyramids or other historical sites. More than three-quarters of all visitors to Egypt are from Europe, and they expect to be able to enjoy the beach as they would at home, he adds. To swim, you wear a bathing costume. To have dinner, part of the culture is to have a drink with the dinner. This is the kind of information people has to understand that do not understand the industry. And you don't change the culture of people.