Project Green Star Hotel, the country develops the receptive

Egypt keeps his guard up and paves the way to go as a protagonist on the scene to do.

Hotel development takes the bench even if the times speak of crisis and contraction in spending on travel. "The investments are not held back - said the Minister of Tourism of Egypt, Hisham Zaazou -. In construction there are over 200 thousand new rooms within five years. Industry of the hotel is central to the economy of the nation, but you must follow an innovative line. "

It is on this principle that the government wants to bring forward a concept of 'bio tourism', which also includes a certification mark on the structures that are environmentally friendly.

"By the end of 2013 we will implement the project started Green Star Hotels years ago - announces Zaazou -. We are working quickly to achieve an overall saving of 30 per cent of the cost of energy." Currently there are 46 hotels with the environmental label certification: 4 and 5 star present in the Red Sea and

South Sinai.

The aim is, once again, more and more pleasure to foreigners with new topics and bring employment at high levels.

Meanwhile, waiting for the European markets will regain their strength more loyal over the years, the incoming of the country is meanwhile compensating the losses with Russian and German.

@http://www.ttgitalia.com/stories/internazionale/86595_progetto_green_star_hotel_il_paese_sviluppa_il_ricettivo/

After 13 years the historic Egyptian town again hosts the Italian travel agents

Countdown to Congress Fiavet which will start tomorrow 17 April (17-21 April) in Luxor, Egypt.Egyptian Tourism in Italy confirming that 'intention to cooperate 100% with the travel agencies and the trade to regain confidence in the destination and stimulate the market, despite the difficulties."After the experience of three years ago in Port Ghalib in Egypt ritoriamo for Congress Fiavet with strong ambitions and strategies to demonstrate the safety of the country and to regain the Italian tourists - said El Gabbar - Always tour operators and agencies journey are our reference points and the first port of call for the tourist market and to enhance the image of our country, also we focus on the fact that Italy and Egypt have always been united by history and culture, but also by a strong friendship. The calendar is pretty busy but we want to give my best. All in Egypt have at heart the importance of the tourism industry and to communicate is of paramount importance. " Objectives regain the trust and market share.
Clear and strong message Mohamed Abdel Gabbar, Director of the

After meeting with Astoi, which took place in Cairo in January, tomorrow will be the turn of the conference Fiavet, another piece that confirms Egypt's commitment to the trade associations and the tourism industry. In 2012, Italians in Egypt were 780 thousand with 45% of repeaters, but past the Italian market recorded over a million arrivals "we must go back to those numbers thanks to the collaboration with agencies and tour operators Italian. The top positions are occupied by Russians, Germans and Brits "shows the Director.
New targets also with regard to the destination and several places: in addition to further development of tourism in the Red Sea and especially the northern coastal area of ​​El Alamein, the country is also working to promote areas of the deserts, for example, the White Desert, oasis and along the path of the Nile "thanks to these new amenities you can greatly expand the tourist to Egypt,"

AP Interview: Egypt says Iranian pose no risk

Tourism Minister Hesham Zaazoua

By By MARIAM EZZAT, Associated Press – 21 hours ago 
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's tourism minister said Thursday that allowing Iranian tourists to visit Egypt after being banned for more than three decades would pose no threat and could help shore up the nation's struggling tourism industry.
Tourism Minister Hesham Zaazoua's remarks, in an interview on Thursday with The Associated Press, come amid controversy over allowing Iranians to visit Egypt after decades of frozen diplomatic relations and suspicion — especially among ultraconservatives — that Iran aspires to spread its Shiite faith to the Sunni world.
Egypt, which is predominately Sunni, has been working to normalize relations with Iran, after a long freeze that began after Egypt signed its 1979 peace treaty with Israel and Iran underwent its Islamic revolution. Relations began to improve after former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down in the 2011 popular uprising.
Egypt's new Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have exchanged visits, which have opened new avenues of cooperation between the former foes.
Zaazoua, who visited Tehran nearly a month ago and signed a memorandum of understanding to promote tourism, told the AP that Iranians were not going to visit Egypt to export an Islamic revolution. He said Iranian visitors, who would be restricted in their movements, would not be visiting religious sites.
"We have not received Iranians for 35 years," Zaazoua said in his office. "They are pure tourists. They are not coming to create a revolution as far as I am concerned."
"They are coming to visit tourist sites within Egypt," he said referring to the ancient cities of Luxor and Aswan. "They are coming for vacationing."
He said if problems surface, "we can stop it, as simple as that."
Egyptians have mixed feelings toward Iran. Some believe in Iranian plots aimed at destabilizing the country while others sympathize with Iran's Islamic revolution and admire Tehran's defiance of the United States.
Zaazoua's visit to Tehran sparked anger of ultraconservative Islamists like Al Nour party. The party issued a statement warning Morsi's government that opening the country up to Iranians risked plunging the country, which "enjoys a Sunni unity," into sectarian strife.
When Ahmadinejad visited Egypt on Feb. 5, he too got a cold shoulder from some. He was given a harsh reception by Egypt's top Sunni cleric of Al-Azhar and the Iranian leader was attacked by shoe-throwing Syrian protesters upset about Iran's alliance with the embattled Syrian regime.
A new understanding with Iran would be a shake-up for a region that has been split between Tehran's camp — which includes Syria and Islamic militias Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza — and a U.S.-backed group led by Saudi Arabia and rich Gulf nations. Further complicating relations, the Islamic militant group Hamas, which rules the Palestinian enclave in the Gaza Strip, is a historical offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, the dominant force in Egyptian politics since Morsi's election.
Zaazoua said preparations were under way to allow Iranian tourists to visit, but he declined to disclose a date.
Last week, Egypt's Foreign and Civil Aviation Ministry established regulations for Iranian tourists, mainly restricting the size and movement of the tourist groups.
Ali al-Ashri, an official with Egypt's Foreign Ministry, said Iranian tourists would only be allowed to visit certain sites, such as the ancient cities of Luxor and resort areas like Sharm el-Sheikh. Cairo was not on the list of places they would be allowed to visit, mainly because it is the site of shrines of revered Shiite figures.
The size of Iranian tourist groups would be limited to 100 persons and there would only be three travel agencies given permits to coordinate the Iranian visits. Flights would carry Iranians directly from Iran to their tourist destination, the civil aviation minister said.
"We don't want to create problems to our country or any other country, including Iran itself," Zaazoua said.
The Egyptian government is looking to boost the tourism business back to pre-revolution levels when 14.7 million tourists visited Egypt in 2010. Continued unrest since the 2011 uprising have scared away tourists and investment. Last year, the number of tourists climbed to more than 10 million, but most tourists go to beach resorts along the Red Sea.
To assuage fears among some that Iranians would try to practice religious rituals in Egypt, Zaazoua emphasized that Iranian tourists would not be allowed to visit religious sites.
"I can't ignore countries like Iran," he said. "I am a technocrat. ... I am looking to just increase the share from international traffic of tourism in the world."
Copyright © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.