"These places are great attractions regardless of the fact that they are 'germy', " said Brooke Ferencsik, a travel expert at TripAdvisor.

CNN: Kissing, chewing -- the 'germiest ' tourist attractions

Gym members opposed to their shoeless counterparts have "just accepted all their life that that's how feet are, that feet are these disgusting, germy things, " he says.

WSJ: Barefoot Jocks Keep Gym Members on Their Toes

Earlier Monday, a senior Egyptian government official told CNN that intelligence officers had visited with the alleged kidnapper, Germy Abu Masouh, on Friday and on Sunday, and communicated with him by phone.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS