Tourism Min., Mastercard to develop apps for tourists in Egypt, boost co-op

CAIRO – 24 August 2019: Tourism Minister Rania Al-Mashat met Saturday with Raghu Malhotra, President of Mastercard Middle East and Africa, and a number of Mastercard officials in Egypt to discuss means to boost cooperation between the ministry and the international company, especially in fields of renovating tourism using electronic applications and platform, data analysis and digitization.

Mashat started the meeting by talking about the structural reform program for the development of the Egyptian tourism sector launched by the ministry last November.

She stressed the importance of technological innovation and digital solutions to enhance the competitiveness and modernity of the tourism sector.

She also added that digital solutions have become an urgent necessity to achieve sustainability in various sectors, especially that the ministry aims at developing green tourism, preserving the environment and digitize its kits and systems.

Mashat further pointed out to cooperation between the ministry and CNN with an aim to introduce different tours about Egypt through the eyes of tourists.

Malhotra, was appointed last June to the United States President's Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa (PAC-DBIA).

For his part, he said Mastercard want to be part of the development that is being witnessed by the Egyptian tourism sector.

He further pointed out that the company also proposes to develop an application, in collaboration with the ministry, to allow tourists to get all the data and services they need upon their arrival in the country.

Malhotra holds a number of board and advisory positions across international markets. He sits on the board of directors of both the US-Africa Business Center (part of the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington) and INJAZ (Junior Achievement Worldwide).