Egypt has received 6.6 million tourists since the beginning of the year to the end of August, registering an increase by 5 per cent compared with the same period last year with revenues amounting to $4.5 billion, up by 1.9 per cent, according to Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou. Current rates tourism have achieved 2 per cent, he said.
The announcement came during a celebration marking the World Tourism Day, held under the rubric “A billion tourists: A billion Job Opportunities” at El Massa Hotel, one of the Egyptian Armed Forces hotels.
The Polish market, which is one of the more promising markets, was heavily influenced by the terrorist attack in Tunisia and has declined by 40 per cent, he added.
He stressed that Egypt has become affected by the surrounding incidents, adding that he has held several meetings with the private sector of tourism and an agreement was reached on a new vision starting today.
The coming phase has been divided into short and medium-term plans, he said, explaining that the talk about the 20 million tourists by 2020 is the goal of tourism, but achieving it is relatively difficult, especially since the tourism industry is one of the most sensitive among industries, though it is not fragile but is affected and then resumes growth quickly.
The short-term plan, which begins in the spring festivals, begins with knowing the problems of tourism in the various destinations and then reviewing the main problems, particularly in Upper Egypt destinations, mainly Luxor where the problems of the sector and debts suffered by many investors were probed. He explained that there is an understanding of the need to resolve the floating hotel problems with the minister of transport. As for the Red Sea, a meeting will be held with the investors to get acquainted with their problems and review the plans of the Tourism Promotion Authority as regards the goals.
