Egypt to Rope In More Indian Celebrities to Boost Tourism

Egypt to Rope In More Indian Celebrities to Boost Tourism

In an attempt to pump up dwindling flow of foreign tourists to Egypt, authorities here are attempting to rope in more Indian celebrities to woo travellers from India.

        Ismail Abdul Hamid Egyptian Tourism Counsellor

Tourism, which is one of the centre-pieces of the Egyptian economy, suffered a severe blow due to many violent attacks by militants since the January 2011 revolution that toppled long-time president Hosni Mubarak.

In 2013, former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi's ouster intensified the attacks, leading to a decrease in footfalls of foreign tourists.

The latest success of megastar Amitabh Bachchan's visit to the country for the ' India by The Nile Festival' has prompted the Egyptian Tourism to include more Indian celebrities in their effort to help them highlight the fact that Egypt is strongly back in the market.

"Indian tourists are one of our most important, promising markets. We believe there are lots to do in the Indian market over the coming few months to increase the number of tourists to Egypt. Some of them are directed to the consumers such as the ' India By The Nile Festival' in Egypt attended by the great star Mr Amitabh Bachchan," Ismail A Hamid, Egyptian Tourism Counsellor, told PTI.

Hamid said that the percentage of Indians visiting Egypt has improved in the last few months, which is the result of the positive news coming from Egypt.

"Over the last few months we notice wonderful indicators of increasing (sic). December 2014 has witnessed an increase of about 27 per cent compared to December 2013 while February 2015 has witnessed 24.1 per cent compared to February 2014," said Hamid, who is based in Mumbai.

"After the revolution in Egypt, the number of tourists had dropped from 14.7 million tourists in 2010 to 9.8 million tourists in 2011. The indicators of the last few months show good increases so that by the end of 2015 we are expecting to regain our position in the market in terms of figures again."

The tourism officials are also taking steps to increase the awareness of the different segments of Indian people to the beauty of Egypt, not only the Pyramids of Giza but also Alexandria, Luxor, Aswan, Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada.

Sheriff Hassan Mohamed, a guide with Lady Egypt Tours, said Indians have a lot in common with Egyptians in terms of ancient history and culture.

"Lack of tourists for the last five or six years have made us realise that we were going in the wrong direction and we were not advertising well. We are in the right way by introducing India which is a great country."

"Egypt would be more appreciated by people from countries like India since it has a rich past and ancient history like us," Sheriff said.

http://www.outlookindia.com/news/article/Egypt-to-Rope-In-More-Indian-Celebrities-to-Boost-Tourism/890484

Egyptian visa rules: What you need to know

Q. What is going on with changes to Egypt's visa rules? I've heard conflicting information about what we need.

A. Your confusion is understandable, because the government in Cairo has issued a series of contradictory edicts.

Let's deal with the easy case first, as it applies to the large majority of British holidaymakers going to Egypt. If you are travelling to the resorts of the south Sinai – Sharm el-Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba – and staying put in the area for a visit of 15 days or less, then you do not need to have any concerns. UK passport holders, as well as people from the rest of the EU and the US, get a free entry permission stamp upon arrival. (That assumes you have six months' validity remaining on your passport from the date you enter Egypt, which is a requirement.)

Suppose, though, you are heading for Cairo and the Nile Valley – whether as a trip on its own or an excursion from the Sinai resorts. In this case you need a visa. At present, getting a visa valid for up to 30 days is a simple matter of paying the equivalent of US$25 (£17) on arrival at the airport. That is standard practice at Cairo, Luxor and Hurghada airports, and anyone arriving at Sharm el‑Sheikh who plans to explore more widely can also buy a visa. The Foreign Office says: "There's no need to buy a visa from an agent. In many cases agents will charge more than US$25."

Last month the Egyptian authorities announced that independent travellers would need to obtain visas in advance. It did not affect people travelling under the auspices of an Egyptian tour operator – which, in effect, covers most people on packages organised from the UK, because their holiday companies have local partners.

But the move looked to jeopardise still further the nation's tourist industry. It has just been annulled, so all travellers can look forward to visiting without a tangle of red tape.

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/egyptian-visa-rules-what-you-need-to-know-10160888.html

Hotel, resort reservations to increase 20% next winter: Tourism Minister

Hotel, resort reservations to increase 20% next winter: Tourism Minister

Ministry of Tourism working to increase tourist flow to Egypt by 20% by end of year, bringing tourist numbers up to 12 million.

Minister of Tourism Khaled Rami

Hotel reservations for the next summer season will increase by 15%, while reservations for the next winter season will increase by 20%, according to Minister of Tourism Khaled Rami.

In an interview with Daily News Egypt, Rami anticipated an increase in the flow of tourists to Egypt from 10 million last year to 12 million tourists by the end of 2015.

How do you view the tourist flow to Egypt this year?              

The flow of tourists to Egypt this year is really good, and there is a 15% growth in reservations for next summer, while reservations for the winter season will increase by 20%. In the upcoming period, we expect to witness an increase in the flow, especially from new markets of east as well as south Asia, India, China, or Japan.

Does the Tourism Activation Authority have any role in increasing the flow? And are there restructuring operations in the coming period?

The Tourism Activation Authority had a big role in the flow of tourists to Egypt over a very difficult four years; there weren’t any marketing campaigns or contracts with any advertising companies. We put out a bid in order to sign a contract with one of the international companies; we are hoping to make a contract with this company before next August. If we manage to achieve this, Egyptian tourist products will be marketed especially in the European market, which represents 72% of the inbound tourism inflows to Egypt on an annual basis.

Some offices in Europe and Turkey were suspended, what does this mean?

Suspended is the right word to describe what happened to these offices. On the other hand, we will focus on the activists of the other offices in order to include some countries. Moreover, the manager of each office will not stay more than a couple of years in his position, which will increase the opportunities for youth to take over leadership positions in the offices of the Tourism Activation Authority (TAA) abroad.

Will the Ministry of Tourism work on changing the rules for charter flights during the next period?

I want to state very important information – charter flights played an important role during the crisis. The ministry will investigate the issue of boosting charter flights, keeping in mind that they will be halted at the end of next October.

Will the charter flights rules be cancelled in all zones?

I don’t expect this. Governorates like Luxor, Aswan and Taba still witness tourism flow. Although the flow is not high, it is developing. 25% of the touristic advertisement campaign will be dedicated to tourism in Luxor and Aswan. This step will raise the touristic flow for what is known as classic tourism.

Why don’t you sign contracts with one company in each market?

Marketing for tourism products in Egypt is going through massive evaluation procedures in the current period, and I have demanded that external offices be evaluated, which are 11 offices.

How about Russian tourism in light of the continuous European sanctions on Russia until next December?

Russian tourism declined in the first few months of the year by 20%, because of the lower rouble exchange rate. And, in general, in the first quarter of the year, tourism increased by 3% compared to the same period of last year. We will work on a strong presence in the Russian market despite the obstacles the rouble is currently facing against the dollar.

What about the barter system which was announced with regard to dealing with the rouble and the Egyptian pound for the Russian and Egyptian companies?

This issue must be discussed with complete honesty, because barter cannot happen between the two states using the local currency. Flights, for example, are paid for in dollars, as well as airport fees. Egypt is in need of the dollar. This is why we cannot use the barter system. This topic shouldn’t have been brought up in the first place.

What do you think of the tourism investment and its rates in the next period?

The Tourism Development Authority is in charge of the tourism investment, and it is the economic arm of the ministry. The ministry proposed five projects during the Economic Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh and four companies competed to do the projects. The ministry will only approve projects if they add a new tourist product

http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2015/04/06/hotel-resort-reservations-to-increase-20-next-winter-tourism-minister/