Interview by Naglaa Ghonaim
The Ministry of Tourism and the Tourism Promotion Authority have completed new marketing and promotional plans using advanced technology through means of communication and information technology. The plans include special offers and services, particularly to Arab tourists.
In an interview with Head of the Tourism Promotion Authority Sami Mahmoud, who is in charge of following up promotion, he expounded future plans that are aimed at taking tourism to a whole new world.
How is the authority getting ready for tourism promotion in Egypt to restore Arab tourism?
We are basically rearranging all means of communication in general using computers and developing the systems, particularly archives, in cooperation with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.
We have officially completed an international bid on tourism promotion and the name of the winning company will be announced soon by the end of this month. The three-year campaign will cover around 26 tourist markets around the world through international companies, not just local ones. It is totally for tourism in Egypt. The Arab world witnessed the campaign launched at the beginning of the season under the auspices of former minister Hisham Zaazou and Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab, titled “Egypt is Near”, and it had good feedback at the level of the Arab Gulf region along with the constant activities carried out by our offices abroad through international fairs, especially the German international market and the tourism and travel market held in Dubai annually.
Why was the UAE and particularly Abu Dhabi chosen as a venue for a tourism promotion office?
Opening a regional office was out of a belief, as the Tourism Promotion Authority, in the importance of encouraging inter-Arab tourism as part of a strategy that links Egypt and the UAE. Opening an office in Abu Dhabi will obviously help in serving the UAE, Jordan and Lebanon and a number of neighboring nations well, and is considered the first tourism office to be opened in an Arab country. It will offer all the new services Egypt has launched for foreign tourists all over the world, particularly the Arab nations which would help raise Arab tourism rates. What is important is that the Abu Dhabi office is highly important to the Egyptian government as Dubai has all world networks and a distinguished airline network.
The opening of the office took place at a suitable time when Egyptian tourism is launching a campaign in the Arab region titled “Egypt is Near”. Both campaigns aim at promoting tourism from the Arab world to Egypt, especially in the summer season. It is also the first Egyptian tourism office in the Arab world after 20 years of closing down the Egyptian tourism office in Kuwait in 1995.
The opening ceremony was held at the Egyptian embassy in Abu Dhabi on July 27-29, and attended by a number of Egyptian and UAE officials including Egypt’s Ambassador to the UAE Ihab Hammouda.
We have already launched a new strategy that will enrich and promote tourism in emerging markets where growth rates are high, namely in the Gulf and Asia.
Is there coordination between the authority and tourism companies in this respect?
Certainly, there is constant contact with all tourism companies operating in the field of Arab tourism, urging them to present the best offers and discounts for Arab tourists particularly that the authority cannot do this alone. Our role is to contact these companies.
Does the civil aviation sector represent a crisis in covering all areas that bring Arab tourists to Egypt?
There is a real crisis as there are not enough airlines and therefore we have offered sufficient support to EgyptAir to launch additional flights to Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh, especially flights between Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan and the UAE. Actually we have a real problem as there are not enough flights, especially regular ones and therefore new solutions should be found as this problem causes a decrease in the number of tourists coming to Egypt. There is a lot of demand on Egypt from the Arab nations but there are not enough flights and charter flights to meet this demand.
Several meetings were held between the ministers of civil aviation and tourism to discuss ways to enhance aviation between Egypt and the Arab Gulf and to increase the number of flights. As the ministry of tourism, we have offered enough support to promotional activities but there should be enough flights to receive tourists in cooperation with Arab airline companies in order to have a comprehensive tourism system that helps strongly restore Arab tourists to Egypt.
What are the results of agreements with private aviation companies?
Air Cairo is a strong partner of EgyptAir’s. We have also talked with the Emirates Company and promised to probe the matter but they have demands such as having a headquarters in Cairo for additional flights. However, so far EgyptAir has not allowed any regular flights to reach Cairo Airport. We are awaiting negotiations between EgyptAir and the Arab airlines company to reach the best solutions that do not affect EgyptAir and at the same time do not affect tourism movement from the Arab Gulf.
What are the new plans of the Tourism Promotion Authority for the new future?
There are new plans to be carried out by the authority, mainly development and expansion of the market through new means of communication, such as social media, Facebook and Twitter, and the Egypt Now system through which live transmission from famous tourist attractions is made available. This method will be used to combat the negative image of Egyptian tourism following the January Revolution.
Is cultural tourism actually not on the agenda of Arab tourists?
That is not true. Arab tourists are very interested in cultural tourism and we have to offer them additional entertainment. Before the revolution Arab tourists came to Egypt to watch plays by Adel Imam, Said Saleh and other actors, and therefore the cultural aspect should be given attention to serve the Arab tourists, such as producing plays by leading artists and establishing various means of entertainment. The Ministry of Culture should play its role in organising distinguished events of the highest quality.
Tell us about Egypt’s rank in the field of marketing tourism.
Unfortunately, Egypt is weak in the field of marketing in general and tourism in particular, especially after the January Revolution, which was followed by several crises in the tourism sector. It was difficult to realise high percentages in marketing. Unfortunately we have real crises that do not help us in expansion and marketing, mainly the internet speed as the high speed internet has not been launched as it requires sound infrastructure. What we are trying to do right now is to reach agreements with service companies that offer new ways of electronic marketing. We had a contract with a private company to send messages to the world to correct the negative image and to answer any questions or comments. This month we will sign a contract with Egyptian media to release press statements almost on a daily basis and a weekly news bulletin about events taking place in Egypt in many languages, to be distributed among our offices abroad to have information about what is going on in the country and be able to answer any questions.
Why did the authority seek a private advertisement company to promote tourism?
The ministry’s plan is to launch a new marketing campaign for Egypt to raise the rates of tourism to 20 per cent annually over the coming five years to reach 11 million tourists by the end of this year. It also aims at launching large marketing campaigns in Egypt to have a positive effect on the investment sector and hotels, particularly that funding tourism in Egypt depends on two main sources, mainly the state budget which contributes to funding offices abroad. A number of these offices were closed down, including Poland and Sweden as part of a policy to reduce expenditure. The other source is the tourism fund.
How about tourism rates during the current season, particularly as regards to Arab countries and beach tourism?
Today we can say the campaigns launched recently have contributed a great deal to reviving tourism and increasing the number of tourists coming to Egypt from all over the world, particularly from the Arab world and the Gulf. The “Egypt is Near” campaign targeted Arab tourists a year ago to shed light on cultural tourism. The new campaign aims to highlight the importance of the cultural tourist attractions among families and youths. The campaign sought to merge beach and cultural tourism through special tourist programmes of benefit to Arab tourists. This will offer them an opportunity to enjoy their vacations, whether with family or friends.
Do we have official statistics that prove the success of the campaigns launched early this season?
Certainly, and they have already been announced. Tourists from Saudi Arabia increased by 67 per cent over the first five months of this year compared with the same period last year, and in May 2015 the number of Saudi tourists coming to Egypt increased by 58.2 per cent compared to May 2014. Saudi Arabia is number four in terms of the number of tourists and nights spent in Egypt in May 2015. The number of Saudi tourists staying at Egyptian hotels in May also increased this year by 53.7 per cent. The number of Kuwaiti tourists increased during the first five months of this year by 48.6 per cent. The number of tourists also increased in May 2015 compared with the previous year by 74.4 per cent. Kuwait occupied ninth position in terms of the number of nights spent in Egypt in May 2015.
What is the budget allocated to tourism promotion 2015/2016?
The campaign to be launched soon in the field of public relations, which will be announced before the end of August, will cost around $42 million per year in a three-year plan, which means a total of $132 million. The sum will be paid by the tourism fund, which is financed by private companies and hotels and therefore the state will not pay any expenses. The promotional activities plan will be all year long starting from mid-year and ending in the middle of the following year. It is a plan divided among each office through participation in exhibitions or joint advertising campaigns.
What is the role played by the authority’s offices abroad?
Their role is very important, as the main role of the Egyptian tourism office is to promote and market Egyptian tourism using different tools through participation in international exhibitions or campaigns, meeting regularly with organisers of trips and holding contacts with tourism companies and media representatives. All these means aim at marketing and promoting for Egypt. Improving the image of Egypt abroad was added to these activities in order to increase the number of tourists coming to the country.
Finally, what does Egypt lack in the field of tourism?
Egyptian tourism lacks tourist cities, entertainment centres and shopping malls for brand names. For instance, in Luxor and Aswan there are no entertainment centres or modern restaurants, no shopping centres or public parks, and this represents a main obstacle for tourists coming to Egypt, particularly Arab ones. The infrastructure of receiving tourists should meet all their needs. Countries like Spain and France receive world record tourists despite their weaker tourist potentials compared to Egypt. We need to set up tourist agendas for Luxor and Aswan such as Opera Aida and international yacht competitions.
