Egypt’s Min. of Tourism & Antiquities holds various meetings with representatives of major tour operators, airlines & hotels in Arab market

CAIRO – 17 May 2021: Egypt’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled el-Enany participated in the 28th Arabian Travel Market [ATM 2021], which is held from May 16-19 in Dubai, UAE.

Enany held a number of meetings with representatives of major tour operators, airlines and hotels in the Arab market. He met with the CEO of Etihad Airlines, representatives of FlyDubai, the Hilton Middle East hotel chain, and a number of Arab and international tour operators from Russia and Eastern Europe.

During these meetings, Enany reviewed what Egypt has done to deal with the Coronavirus crisis. He spoke about the hygiene safety regulations applied in all tourist facilities, hotels, museums and archaeological sites in Egypt. He also highlighted the training programs conducted by the ministry to educate all workers in the tourism sector about the global pandemic.

Egypt's Min. of Tourism & Antiquities Khaled el-Enany (2nd Right) during the meetings - Min. of Tourism & Antiquities

Also, Enany said that within days, the Minister of Health and Population will announce the completion of the vaccination of all workers in the Egyptian tourism sector in the governorates of South Sinai and the Red Sea with anti-Coronavirus vaccines.

He emphasized the close cooperation between the ministry and its stakeholders in the tourism sector such as tour operators and airlines.

Moreover, Enany spoke of incentives offered by Egypt to boost inbound tourism and motivate tourists to visit Egypt; including the launch of a new aviation incentive program, a reduction in aircraft fuel prices to reach a total value of the reduction of 15 cents per gallon, a 50 percent reduction on landing and housing fees and a 20 percent reduction on ground handling fees at Egyptian airports in tourist governorates until October 31, 2021.

The Minister of Tourism & Antiquities Khaled el-Enany pointed to the gradual improvement in the performance of inbound tourism since the resumption of tourism coming to Egypt last July. 

He said that Egypt received during this period 3 million tourists from more than 20 countries, pointing out that the average number of tourists who visited Egypt during April 2021 is close to 50 percent of the average monthly number of 2019, indicating the trust of these countries in the Egyptian tourist destination.

Furthermore, Enany explained that the ministry started launching a marketing campaign in the Arab market a few days ago, which will be intensified in the coming period. He added that the ministry will also launch an international promotional campaign this fall that will last for three years with the aim of attracting more tourists to Egypt.

He said that Egypt is working on opening new hotels and tourist resorts during the coming period, in addition to many new museum, the most important of which is the Grand Egyptian Museum, adding that there are new cities being established in Egypt to be all year round tourist destinations, like Galala City on the Gulf of Suez, and the new Alamein city in the North Coast.

In a related context, Enany met with representatives of Egyptian hotels and tourism companies participating in the exhibition, where he stressed during the meeting on the importance of maintaining the reputation of the Egyptian tourist destination, especially through full compliance with the application of precautionary measures and hygiene safety controls, pointing out that the commitment of all to these controls was a major reason for the continuation and increase of the number of tourists coming to Egypt since the resumption of tourism last July.

Some of these meetings were attended by Ambassador Ashraf al-Deeb, Consul General of Egypt in Dubai, Assistant Minister of Aviation for International, Commercial and Media Affairs Bassem Abdul Karim and Pilot Amr Abu Al Ain, Chairman of The Holding Company of Egypt Air.

Also, Enany opened on May 16 the Egyptian Pavilion participating in the 28th Arabian Travel Market ATM 2021, in the presence of Ashraf al-Deeb, Consul General of Egypt in Dubai.