Egypt's Tourism Min. Outlines Future of Egyptian Tourism at International Seminar

Egypt's Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Mr. Ahmed Issa, recently featured as a keynote speaker in a seminar organized by the Canadian-Egyptian Business Council and the Egyptian International Cooperation Business Council. The seminar, themed "The Future of Tourism in Egypt: Opportunities and Challenges," took place yesterday evening.

Also attending the event was Amr El-Qadi, CEO of the Egyptian General Authority for Tourism Promotion, and Yumna Al Bahar, Assistant Minister for Technical Affairs.

The seminar kicked off with a promotional film about ancient Egyptian civilization, launched last September to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the decoding of ancient Egyptian writing and the birth of Egyptology.

Issa commenced his address by expressing his pleasure at the invitation to speak at the seminar. He highlighted that this was an excellent opportunity to review the key indicators of inbound tourism to Egypt over the last six months, which are tracked weekly and monthly.

The minister spoke about the significance of the tourism industry for national economies, especially as a major source of foreign exchange. He emphasized its extensive impact on many other industries.

Throughout the seminar, Issa presented an overview of the latest developments in Egypt's tourism industry and the achievements made in implementing the national strategy for tourism development in Egypt. He mentioned that the difference between a dream and a goal is the existence of a practical plan grounded in reality.

He also noted that the first six months of the current year saw an unprecedented surge in tourism in Egypt's history, with over 7 million tourists. There was also an increase in the number of tourist nights and a diversity of sources of tourism markets for the first time without an overemphasis on any one nationality.

The Egyptian Minister pointed out that there are several tourism markets that have seen a significant increase in the number of incoming tourists in the first half of the current year, and the target is to reach 15 million tourists during this year.

When comparing the numbers achieved by Egypt in the tourism industry with global tourism indicators, tourism in Egypt increased by 11% over what the world achieved during the first quarter of the current year compared to the same period in 2019, which is considered the peak year in the global tourism industry. He noted that Egypt's market share of the tourist movement is increasing.

In addition, he took the opportunity to congratulate the private sector on these results, as they played a significant role in achieving them. He indicated that the ministry's current goal is to achieve rapid growth ranging between 25% - 30% annually, driven by the private sector, within a framework of effective organization and governance. This contributes to preserving the interests of the visiting tourist and provides them with a remarkable tourism experience.