Egypt tourism seeing constant development
“We had a leap in tourism in 2017 and a large boom in 2018, when Egypt was visited by renowned foreign figures,” the minister said in an interview in capital Cairo.
Tourism brought Egypt about 13 billion US dollars in revenues in 2010, when some 14.7 million tourists visited the country. After that, the tourism sector saw a recession in Egypt over the past few years due to political turmoil and security challenges that resulted from the dismissal of two heads of state in 2011 and 2013.
Tourism further deteriorated after a plane crash in Sinai killing over 200 people, mostly Russians, in October 2015, and another tragic crash of an EgyptAir flight killing all 66 people on board, including 15 French nationals, in May 2016.
To quote Mashat, “Tourism in Egypt started to recover and overcome the consequences of the Russian plane crash, and many countries started to resume its suspended flights to Egyptian airports.”
Moscow has, however, resumed direct flights to Cairo airport in April 2018 while flights to other Egyptian cities, including the popular Red Sea resorts of Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada, will be resumed soon, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin after talks with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El Sisi in Russia’s Sochi in October 2018.
On the other hand, Chinese Sichuan Airlines launched a direct flight to Cairo airport for the first time in late October 2018.
In late January, Egypt saw its new Sphinx International Airport, about 12 kms away from the Great Pyramids of Giza, linking tourist destinations northern and southern the country via domestic flights.
Mashat said that her ministry holds regular discussions with tourist companies and travel agents for finding out new means of attracting more tourists to the monument-rich most populous Arab country.
The tourism ministry also keeps an eye on archeological discoveries announced by the antiquities ministry to add new destinations to Egypt’s tourism map.
“Cultural tourism is very important and unique in Egypt,” Mashat said.
“Inviting foreign diplomats and media channels to such discoveries is meant to introduce and promote new attractions in Egypt to the world, such as Minya province that was not very well-known despite its attractive sites,” Mashat added.
The minister said that the upcoming opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum in 2020, is a vital part of the tourism ministry’s promotion plan. The museum will be the biggest in the world, displaying the artifacts of one civilization.
Mashat said that the Egyptian tourism ministry wants more Chinese tourists to visit Egypt in the near future due to the fast growing relations between the two countries.
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