How to avoid the free city tour scam and overpriced leather/fur shops in Hurghada?
Based on 1 discussion with 3 participants · Last activity: 20 days ago
TL;DR
Touts on hotel beaches and even hotel-arranged guides offer a 'free Hurghada city tour' that actually takes tourists to a 'Leather and Fur World' mall and souvenir shops with inflated prices and poor-quality goods — politely decline and ask to be driven back to your hotel.
What the community said
Touts (described as from Azerbaijan) walk hotel beaches inviting guests to the 'Leather and Fur World' mall. It's a money scam — poor quality, cheaply made goods sold at very inflated prices.
21 days ago 'Leather and Fur World' mall
A hotel guide may offer a 'free Hurghada city tour' that actually ends up at the same leather and fur mall. A Russian-speaking saleswoman greets guests and insists there's no pressure to buy.
21 days ago
After the leather shop, tourists are driven to a souvenir shop with very inflated prices — goods there cost more than at shops near the Sheraton hotel area.
21 days ago near Sheraton hotel is cheaper
Tea is offered at the entrance of these shops — avoid drinking it, it's part of the pressure tactics to make you buy something.
21 days ago
If you end up on such a trip, insist on stopping and refusing to buy anything — this worked to cut the tour short and get back to the hotel, though it still wasted 2-3 hours.
21 days ago 2-3 hours wasted
The only genuinely useful stop on such a forced tour is a pharmacy, where basic medicine (e.g. ibuprofen for a headache) costs around $1.
21 days ago ibuprofen ~$1