Egypt targets 13 million tourists in 2013

Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou said his ministry was working to return tourism to pre-revolution levels

Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou said his ministry was working to return tourism to pre-revolution levels,according to state-owned Al-Ahram.

Zaazou stated that if Egypt managed to remain internally stable for the rest of the year, he hoped for the country to receive 13 million tourists by the end of 2013, compared to the 14.8 million tourists that came in 2010.

He maintained that if planned demonstrations against President Mohamed Morsi proceeded peacefully on 30 June, it could have a positive impact on tourism.

The minister had previously pushed for an advertising campaign promoting tourism to Egypt, but said budget considerations led to the campaign’s suspension. Zaazou also said the ministry was preparing for November, in which it would welcome tourists who would trace the steps of the Christian Holy Family in Egypt, anticipating visitors from Europe, the United States and domestic tourists.

The ministry, according to Zaazou, was also eyeing more business from India and China, huge markets with high potential.  Next month will bring the introduction of a new route from New Delhi to Egypt, which will be the fifth weekly flight between the two countries. Zaazou added that he would host the Federation of Indian Tourism in September.

Zaazou said he had appointed an adviser to exclusively deal with the Chinese market.

The minister added that he anticipated that Egypt would see a healthy number of tourists arriving in the summer, especially after Ramadan, assuming the season is not marred by political instability.

The Sixteenth Session of Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentary and short Films

The Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentaries and Shorts has announced there will be more than 52 films from 30 countries, including 10 world premieres, participating in the festival.
The festival will also include a co-production platform for documentary films that will entail 10 films in production and two films in post-production. The filmmakers are invited to the festival to be part of a peer review workshop, with access to experts and funding that could help the filmakers achieve their projects. A prize of $20,000 will also be up for grabs.

"In a first time collaboration with Screen Institute Beirut, the festival is also organising an editing workshop for three projects in the post-production phase. Three professional tutors from Denmark, Syria and Egypt will conduct the workshop sessions. We started working on this initiative four months ago. The aim is to enhance the film industry," Mohamed Hefzy, festival director and founder of Film Clinic, said at the festival's press conference.

The festival will debut 15 films from the National Cinema Centre's archive, featuring the Suez Canal and the role played by the province's residents from 1954 until 1974, through times of war.

The festival administration has also assigned 100 volunteers from Ismailia and nearby cities and areas in order to enhance collaboration amongst the festival's community.

Jury members include internationally acclaimed Egyptian documentary filmmaker Tahani Rached, and Safinez Bousbia, director of the critically acclaimed El-Gusto.

The jury for the short films and animation section will be presided over by Michelle Driguez and includes Chadi Zinnedine and Egyptian filmmaker Sherif El-Bindary.

Viola Shafik (Germany/Egypt) will act as the jury president for the co-production platform with Hania Mroueh and Malek Khoury, head of the film programme at the American University in Cairo, acting as jury members.

The Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentaries and Shorts first launched in 1991, organised by the Egyptian Film Centre. The coastal city of Ismailia, which was established in 1863 with the construction of the Suez Canal by Khedive Ismail, has hosted 15 editions of the festival.

The Ismailia festival awards the best two films in the four main competitions — long documentary films, short documentary films, short feature films, and animation films.

http://www.egypt.travel

Egypt:30 million tourists in 2022

Objective 30 million tourists and 25 billion dollars in revenues in 2022. An ambitious goal for Egypt, that to reach this goal relies on a growing contribution of the Italian demand. This is expressed by Hisham Zaazou, Egyptian Minister of Tourism. "The Italians have invented tourism in Egypt before discovering Sharm El Sheikh and then Marsa Alam, which have become attractions for the whole world. Now more and Italians are developing the area of ​​Marsa Matrouh on the Mediterranean coast, further contributing to the growth of our tourism, which is a vital economic sector for Egypt. " The foreign arrivals in the country have gone by, in particular, from 5.5 million in 2000 to 14.7 million in 2010. During the same period, revenues rose from $ 4.2 billion to 12.5 billion, while the hotel offer also came to touch, in 2010, 225 thousand 600 rooms, with 208 thousand in construction. But above all, tourism is, for Egypt, 47.8% of the total export value of services contributed 19.2% to the inflow of foreign currency, counts for 11, 3% of the national GDP and employs 12.6% of the total workers. The minister outlined the development strategies of the sector, including support to business partners, through the promotion of co-marketing activities, ensuring incentives for charter flights to Egypt, the outdoor promotion campaigns, and the continuation the actions of pr currently in progress, such as, for example, that provides for the organization of educational for printing and business operators. In order to encourage even the new markets, it is thought also to build closer partnerships with airlines, as well as the simplification of procedures for issuing visas and construction of major communication campaigns online. "International tourists are welcome by us. And ours is a safe country - says the minister. " Just to reiterate this concept has been designed an innovative campaign entitled "Egypt now", through which a series of webcam will be installed in various parts of the country, to show everyone in real time the peace and security of the Egyptian destinations.

@http://www.travelquotidiano.com/estero/egitto-obiettivo-30-milioni-di-turisti-nel-2022/tqid-143174