Over 15 million tourists expected to visit Egypt in 2020: WTO adviser

CAIRO, Jan 7 (MENA) - Figures released by the World Tourism Organization (WTO) shows that Egypt's tourism sector has recovered after the number of tourists who visited the country in 2019 hit about 13 million, said economic adviser at the WTO and member of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Saeed el Batouti.

In statements to MENA on Tuesday, Batouti, who is also a board member of the German Travel Association (DRV) added that the number of tourists expected to visit Egypt this year would exceed 15 million, thanks to Egypt's stability in addition to the package of current policies the country adopts.

He attributed the tourism sector recovery to the strong support provided by the political leadership.

Batouti asserted the importance of working on attracting tourists from various countries, highlighting that Spain and Italy are among the markets that Egypt targets.

He called for opening up new tourist markets in Egypt and focusing on the religious tourism.

The entire world in general and Germany in particular are waiting for the inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum, he said, underscoring that Germany recorded the highest growth in international tourist arrivals in Egypt in 2019 with 2.5 million German tourists, compared to 707,000 tourists registered in 2018.