By Hassan El-Khawaga
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 24 (SEE) - Tourism Minister Rania El Mashat said on Tuesday that the Tourism Ministry is proud of that 98 percent of Egypt's tourism sector is led by the private sector.
Mashat's remarks came during her interview with CNN's Becky Anderson & John Defterios on the fringe of her participation in the Wolrd Economic Forum 2019, held in Davos in Switzerland.
Mashat highlighted that the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a key component of Egypt's message to the world, as they should be embedded in the private sector's work in Egypt.
Talking about green tourism in Egypt, the minister said: "Ten percent of hotel rooms has obtained the Green Star Certificate. In our new role, we will include the environmental sensitive aspect in the hotels as a step to change our tourism norms."
While answering Defterios's question regarding which classes of tourists that Egypt targets, she pointed out that Egypt is suitable for everybody's budget and interest, stressed that the country is keen on attracting different strata as soon as possible.
Mashat, during the interview, was speaking about the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), saying the inauguration of GEM will be in 2020 as a part of the ministry's campaign of GEM 2020.
"From the inside, we have the monuments which they are old and ancient but outside it is very contemporary and that's is the message we want to give to the world: we are a very old civilization but we do have modernity, we are thinking differently about the sector, and we are changing narratives of tourism," Mashat expounded.
She further noted that the Egyptian government is stepping away from managing GEM and many of sites which is a big change, as the local and foreign private sector will help in their management in order to increase the revenues.
"The government does as it can to make sure that your visit is enjoyable and safe," she told the interviewer about the message that Egypt sends in terms of the security challenges, pointing to Egypt's ranking the 2nd on CNN's lists of top 2019 destinations.
She also stressed the importance of change in legislation and certain institutions setup and a modern look for Egypt's promotion to encourage the stakeholders to buy in the ministry's plan.
To see the full interview:
https://youtu.be/O-VzgpwJvlY
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