Egyptian Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou: Egypt will regain its leading position in global and Arab tourism markets

‘Wahashtouna’ 

HE Hisham Zaazou, Egyptian Minister of Tourism, has stated that Egyptian tourism will gradually regain its previous high levels following the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. The elections will serve as a turning point in increasing political stability, as well as enhancing the levels of safety and security over the next few months. These statements were made during a press conference held by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism prior to the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) event, which starts tomorrow. 

Zaazou emphasised the significance of ATM to Egypt’s tourism sector, stating that Arabs make up more than 20% of tourists that visit the country’s destinations - particularly Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada. 

His Excellency also unveiled a number of exclusive offers that will be available in May 2014 for tourists from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait including a set of direct flights launched from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, to Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh. Tourists from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will also be offered exclusive package rates that will include air tickets and a three night stay in Sharm El Sheikh’s and Hurghada’s most luxurious hotels and resorts, starting from USD400.

These offers are part of the larger ‘Wahashtouna’ campaign launched by the Ministry to promote tourism from Arab and Gulf nations. These exclusive offers are a result of the close collaboration between the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and the Egyptian Tourism Authority, as well as with the Egyptian Chamber of Tourism Establishments, Egypt Air and a number of hotels operating in Egypt.

During the press conference, Zaazou also announced the launch of the first ‘Egypt Air’ and ‘Egypt Air Express’ flights from Jeddah Airport to Hurghada, who will be operating two flights per week starting May 20th. Meanwhile, ‘Air Cairo’ flights from Kuwait to Hurghada will kick-off from May 21st and will also be operating two flights per week. Direct flights are also set to be launched soon from Riyadh to Hurghada.

These flights are an addition to the existing 12 to Sharm El Sheikh from Riyadh, Jeddah and Kuwait operating across four days a week. As a result of these developments, the Ministry is bringing the number of direct flights being offered from Arab countries to Hurghada and Sharm el Sheikh to 18 per week.

The Ministry of Tourism is currently negotiating with a number of UAE-based airlines to launch direct flights to Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada and Aswan this year. Currently Egypt Air and Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) offer direct flights from Jeddah and Riyadh to Sharm El Sheikh.

HE Hisham Zaazou, Egyptian Minister of Tourism said: “The challenges facing the Egyptian tourism industry are unique but at the same time it is important to maintain a true picture of the situation in Egypt. Tourist destinations continue to be safe and secure and are still attracting thousands of tourists from around the world on a daily basis. We want to make it known that Egypt is a strategic, safe tourism destination for Arab and foreign visitors alike.” 

He added: “Despite the obstacles faced by the Egyptian tourism sector in recent years, Egypt still offers the most popular tourist destinations on a global level. Egyptian citizens and the Egyptian government are both committed to the security of our guests and remaining hospitable and welcoming to tourists. Egypt has received more than 32 million tourists in the past three years, 20% of which were Arab tourists. This confirms the massive attraction that Egypt remains to be in the Arab world.” 

He continued: “These exclusive travel packages offered to our Arab neighbors reflect our efforts to boost the tourism sector in Egypt. I would like to take this opportunity to express how much we value Arab tourists – Egypt misses you! - and we will continue to provide exclusive offers to allow them to experience what Egypt has to offer.”

His Excellency concluded that Egypt continues to be keen to draw investment to the nation’s various sectors, in particular; tourism.

He concluded: “I call upon Arab investors to invest in Egypt, particularly in the tourism sector, as we are currently providing them with easy and transparent procedures. In fact, Arab investments represent 9% of the amount of foreign investments in Egypt. Arab investments in the tourism sector amounted to 2.180 billion Egyptian pounds, which reflects the importance of supporting this active sector.”

Egypt Launches “We Miss You” Ad Campaign To Lure Back Visitors

Egypts Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou 

Egypt’s tourism minister is in Dubai this week to launch a new campaign called “We miss you” aimed at wealthy visitors from the Persian Gulf region in an attempt to help revive its ailing travel industry. As part of the charm offensive, Egypt is offering discount packages to Arab tourists, will establish more direct flights to the Gulf region and is planning a social media blitz to give its travel sector a much-needed shot in the arm. Minister Hisham Zaazou talks to The Wall Street Journal about the economic impact of the country’s tourism downturn and the way it wants to tackle the problem of sexual harassment of women.

WSJ: Egypt’s tourism industry suffered one of its worst years in 2013. What was the financial impact on the country?

Mr. Zaazou: “If I compare the peak years we’ve been through, particularly 2010, with our performance for 2013, I think we have a problem. In 2010, we received 14.7 million tourists generating an income for the Egyptian economy of $12.5 billion and that is more than the Suez Canal gave Egypt. If you compare these figures with 2013, you find there is a big drop. In 2013, we received a mere 9.5 million (tourists), generating an income of $5.8 billion. Our tourism may be sick but it will not die. I cannot claim that the current level of tourism to Egypt is satisfactory for us. This is a sick man, not very healthy compared to what he was before and I believe we need to work in the coming period with the political situation getting better by the day to get more business. I’m confident the business will come back strongly. There is a demand for Egypt and a demand for Egyptian products.”

WSJ: You said other countries’ travel warnings inflict much damage on Egypt’s tourism sector. What are you doing about it?

Mr. Zaazou: “The travel warnings are not fair for specific reasons. First, the travel advisories or warnings should meet three basic criteria. It should be time-specific. It is not. It should be geographic specific. And in this case it is not. Third, you should consult the host country when attempting to make a negative travel advisory per agreements with the WTO (World Tourism Organization). Fine, if it is a security issue then send me a security expert or delegations from your end to come and check for yourself the situation on the ground. Listen, we’re transparent, you send a delegation, you send a team, let them make the analysis and if they find anything that needs to be improved we’re willing to do it. Once we arrive to a point where you feel it is adequate, then there’s no need to keep the negative travel warning.”

WSJ: Sexual harassment of women in Egypt is also hurting the country’s image. What measures are you taking to tackle this problem?

Mr. Zaazou: “A lot. Women harassment is an issue. I think it is part of what Egypt went through after the revolution and there was no tight control by the police in areas. Police was not in control for 100% after the revolution. Change happened in Egypt. There was no real enforcement of the law. People were messing up and part of that is the harassment issue. Today we’re moving in a different direction. Police is gaining presence in the streets and accordingly the law is prevailing more and more by the day. In the tourism sector, we have issued a ministerial decree to enforce using CCTV cameras in public areas and in the corridors of hotels and to ask tour leaders of the groups to report any harassment immediately for us to take action. We’re also requesting a legislative change because the Egyptian law doesn’t contain the word harassment. It contains other words pertaining to sexual assault. The law is going to be passed very soon, maybe before the end of May. To include that word will help to gain tighter control. Finally, training courses. Newcomers coming from less privileged areas in Egypt where people are poor and maybe uneducated work in hotels. They don’t understand the culture quite well. You need to have training courses to make them understand to handle visitor coming from a different culture.”

WSJ: What is your outlook for the future?

Mr. Zaazou: “I had a forecast at the beginning of the year that we’ll go back to the figure of $8 or $9 billion in revenues and between 11 and 11.5 million visitors and I think we can achieve that. By 2020, we expect 25 million visitors and $25 billion in revenues. There is a relative increase in the expenditure by the tourists that came. We used to be at $85 (average spending per day), we went down to $60 and at the moment it is $65. This trend will continue in the coming period which means the revenue will be better. The Europeans are spending a bit more because they’re taking very good package deals so they have enough money to spend on optional tours and souvenirs. The feeling is they got a very good deal with the hotel and airline and came to Egypt because it is inexpensive, so it’s ok to spend more money in the destination. We also noticed Russians also spend more money on alcohol consumption in the destination.”

@http://blogs.wsj.com/middleeast/2014/05/04/egypt-launches-we-miss-you-ad-campaign-to-lure-back-visitors/

Archaeologists find 5,600-year-old tomb in Egypt

AFP

Archaeologists in southern Egypt have discovered a 5,600-year-old preserved tomb and mummy predating the First Dynasty of the pharaohs, the antiquities ministry said Wednesday.

The tomb was built before the rule of king Narmer, the founder of the First Dynasty who unified Upper and Lower Egypt in the 31th century BC, the ministry said in a statement.

The tomb was discovered in the Kom al-Ahmar region, between Luxor and Aswan, on the site of Hierakonpolis, the city of the falcon, which was the dominant pre-dynastic urban centre and the capital of the Kingdom of Upper Egypt.

The archaeologists found an ivory statue of a bearded man and the mummy of the tomb's owner, who appeared to have died in his late teenage years, the ministry said.

The tomb's preserved state will provide new information on pre-dynastic rituals, said Renee Friedman, the head of the multinational archeological team.

The tombs of king Narmer and king Ra, a pre-dynastic pharaoh who paved the way to Egypt's unification, were previously discovered in Hierakonpolis.