Minister of Tourism participates in Milan travel exhibition

CAIRO - 3 April 2017: Egyptian Minister of Tourism Yehia Rashed took part in the inauguration of Milan's International Travel Exhibition (BIT), which opened Sunday and will run through Tuesday.

The minister, flanked by Egypt's Consul General in Milan Ahmed Shahin as well as head of the Tourism Promotion Authority Hesham el-Demeiry, inspected Egypt's pavilion in the exhibition, which was set up on an area of 100 square meters, the Ministry of Tourism said in a statement.

Egypt is represented in the event by the Egyptian Tourism Federation and the Red Sea and Alexandria governorates, in addition to the Tour n' Cure program.

On the sidelines of the visit, Rashed met with representatives of Italian tour operator Il Viaggio, which asserted it would soon resume its flights to Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh, Marsa Alam and the North Coast.

The minister, on that score, noted that the ministry has shifted its policy from "flight support" to "flight stimulation," stressing that the move has led to a weekly increase in the number of Egypt-bound flights.

The tourism industry is a main part of the Egyptian economy, and it was badly affected by the outbreak of the January 25 Revolution in 2011 that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak, ending his 30-year rule.

Tourism in Egypt saw another decline after October 31, 2015 when a Russian passenger plane crashed minutes after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh airport, leaving all 224 people on board dead.

Militants associating themselves with the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the crash.