In an interview with Manus Cranny and Tracy Alloway on \u201cBloomberg Daybreak: Middle East\u201d on November 8, Minister of Tourism Rania El-Mashat reaveled that Egypt has witnessed a \u201csteep rebound\u201d in the tourism industry, citing the significant increase in the influx of tourists. <\/p>\n
Mashat spoke of tourism\u2019s future, its prospects and the work that the government is doing to get the industry back on its feet. She also revealed, \u201cAt the end of this month in Parliament, I will be announcing E-Trip: Egypt Reform Program\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cActually, Egypt is back; we have had very good numbers for 2017,\u201d Mashat stated at the beginning of her interview. \u201cWe are ending the year [2017] with eight million tourists.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Minister went on to explain that the country has seen a steady increase in the number of tourists, explaining that from January and now, the influx of tourists has increased by 40 percent. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are happy that people are coming from all over the world,\u201d Mashat said. <\/p>\n
She went on to comment about the New Egyptian Museum, \u201cWe do have a billion dollar investment in the biggest museums, which has more than 10,000 artefacts, and it is going to open in 2020. So, a very good part of the campaign is GEM 2020.\u201d<\/p>\n
In response to Alloway\u2019s query regarding where Egypt is looking to target and which markets it aims to have a stronger presence in, Mashat explained, \u201cWe are trying to diversify the visitor base more. We want to look more towards visitors from the East, and we want to invite visitors from Latin America.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cEgypt provides a very important destination in terms of the diversity that it has to offer and the budgets. \u2026 We are trying to emphasise these points in our [tourism] campaign.\u201d <\/p>\n
Mashat went on to reveal that she will be unveiling a tourism reform program to the Egyptian Parliament at the end of November, which she calls \u2018E-Trip\u2019. <\/p>\n
E-Trip includes a reform plan, which includes legislative changes, as well as institutional and administrative reforms. Investments are also a big part of this program. <\/p>\n
\u201cEgypt is offering new destinations for investments in the islands in the Red Sea and details regarding that will also be disclosed in due course.\u201d <\/p>\n
In a positive outlook, Mashat said, \u201cWe are expecting that by the end of 2018, we will not be at the level of 2010 but we will be approaching that. The rebound is quite steep and we are trying to put the sector on a competitive pace relative to our peers.\u201d <\/p>\n
Commenting on the fact that Egypt is in a geographically interesting region that is home to many countries that tourists like visiting, Mashat said, \u201cEgypt is a 365-day destination,\u201d explaining that Egypt has beaches, different destinations, the new museum, and so on. <\/p>\n
The Minister also explained that Egypt is building its tourism to become sustainable and environmentally-friendly to ensure that it develops steadily and continuiously. <\/p>\n
Shortly after the interview, Egypt\u2019s Ministry of Tourism announced a comprehensive plan to develop tourism along with the services provided to tourists. <\/p>\n
A statement issued by the ministry on November 9, stated that the plan includes developing the services provided by hotels, cities, restaurants and all tourism destinations and locations in the country. The ministry also will work on increasing the people\u2019s awareness to deal with tourists in order to leave good impression about the country and its people. <\/p>\n
Mashat said that Egypt\u2019s hotels have not been upgraded since 2006 as a result of several fast variables; however, the government is planning to do this during the coming period. <\/p>\n
A new promotional campaign is going to be lunched for Egypt during the coming period as part of the ministry\u2019s plan. This campaign is going to include new tourism slogans such as Branding by Destination and People to People (P2P). <\/p>\n
On October 9, Mashat also revealed the ministry\u2019s plan to establish a new international partnership to promote Egyptian Tourism worldwide after ending its contract with the marketing company GWT. <\/p>\n
Mashat added during a press conference at one of Cairo\u2019s hotels that the ministry seeks a new partnership that can implement the Ministry of Tourism\u2019s vision in a flexible pattern during the upcoming period, the minister pointed out that the new plan is based on several axes such as, crisis management, multimedia, and public relations. <\/p>\n
Those tasks will be carried out by private companies set to promote tourism in Egypt, added Mashat. <\/p>\n
The press conference included several representatives of Egypt\u2019s private business sector such as CEO of Synergy, Hasan Kamal, and CEO OF Tawasol, Sahar Zoghaby. <\/p>\n
Egypt Today<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In an interview with Manus Cranny and Tracy Alloway on \u201cBloomberg Daybreak: Middle East\u201d on November 8, Minister of Tourism Rania El-Mashat reaveled that Egypt has witnessed a \u201csteep rebound\u201d in the tourism industry, citing the significant increase in the influx of tourists. Mashat spoke of tourism\u2019s future, its prospects and the work that the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":114570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7863],"tags":[2484,43831,8274,43832,8044],"class_list":["post-114569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-section","tag-egypt","tag-manus-cranny","tag-minister","tag-rania-el-mashat","tag-tourism"],"yoast_head":"\n