The successful Egyptian film festival El Gouna has been postponed this year for the first time since its founding in 2017. El Gouna was supposed to run from October 13th to the 22nd at the Egyptian Red Sea resort. The festival was created by Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris after his brother Samih built the El Gouna resort south of Cairo.

Now the reason the people behind the festival cited as to why El Gouna was being postponed was that they wished to review the “vital role” that the festival plays in “art and tourism sectors, both nationally and internationally” in spite of “current global challenges.”

This could mean bad news for El Gouna, considering that as of late there have been many new film festivals popping up such as the Red Sea Festival in Saudi Arabia, adding to the competition amongst film appreciation circuits in the Middle East.

In addition to rival festivals, another factor to this postponing and what it could potentially mean is the economic situation in Egypt currently. The market is currently suffering as a result of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, as both country’s residents make up a good portion of the tourism the country of Egypt sees each year.