Training for Pyramids vendors, camel owners kicks off Sunday

CAIRO – 7 May 2017: Governmental-run training courses for dozens of workers in the tourism sector kicked off Sunday, aiming to raise awareness for more effective communication with tourists, according to the Tourism Promotion Authority.

Under the slogan “Tourism Is Our Future,” the training is a debut by the Tourism Promotion Authority, a part of the Ministry of Tourism. The ministry launched a new nationwide campaign carrying the same slogan last week.

Lasting 15 days, the first training course will include around 200 street vendors, camel owners, and horsemen from the Giza Pyramids area. They will be lectured by members of the Faculty of Tourism and Antiquities, representatives of the Antiquities Police and the Egyptian General Tourism Guide Syndicate.

The course aims to supplying workers in the field with instructions to maintain good personal behavior as part of their daily contact with tourists, especially foreigners.

Each trainee will receive 25 EGP ($1.4) daily as an incentive to participate, and by the end of the course each one will receive a passing certificate approved by the governorate so they can renew their licenses.

In the course of the government’s efforts to boost tourism sector, Minister of Antiquities Khaled Anani announced last week that the cabinet has approved amendments to the Antiquities Act, whereby hawkers who disturb tourists will be punished by a fine up to 10,000 EGP ($552).

As part of the amendments, punishment for those who practice illegal excavation will be maximized up to life imprisonment.

Tourism in Egypt has been waning for the past six years following political unrest after the 2011 Egyptian revolution. The number of inbound tourists again dropped drastically after several attacks over the last few years, including the Russian plane crash in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in 2015, killing all 224 people on board. Islamic State affiliates took responsibility for downing the plane; however, Egypt's final report on the cause of the crash is yet to be issued.