Bulgarian Tourism Min.: More Than 3,000 Tourists Visited Egypt in 2019

Bulgarian Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova said 3,477 Bulgarian tourists visited Egypt from January to September this year, compared to 2,859 during the same period in 2018, with a hike of 21.6%.

In statements to SEE, Angelkova uncovered between 1,500 to 2,000 Egyptian tourists visit Bulgaria every year.

"The numbers are small, but Sofia needs to invest more in marketing and promotion," Angelkova pointed out.

The Bulgarian tourism minister noted that her country's tourists mainly heads for Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada, and Cairo, enjoying beach tourism, while Egyptian travelers visiting Bulgaria enjoy cultural and historical tourism.

She also expected that the number of Bulgarian tourists flocking to Egypt would increase by 50%.

[caption id="attachment_91476" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Egyptian Tourism Minister Shakes Hands with Bulgarian Counterpart[/caption]

Her remarks came on Sunday after a forum titled “Egypt and Bulgaria: Working together to achieve sustainable tourism,” with Egyptian Tourism Minister Dr. Rania Al-Mashat in the presence of Foreign Minister Assistant for European Affairs Ambassador Badr Abdel Ati, Chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Federation Ahmed El Waseef, and Chairperson of the Egyptian Travel Agencies Association Hossam El Shaer.

During the forum, Angelkova congratulated Al-Mashat on the Egyptian tourism sector's success in 2018, saying: "Such success will motivate Bulgaria to go hand in hand with a strategic partner like Egypt."

Earlier in May, Al-Mashat signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bulgarian minister on developing joint tourism products in the domains of cultural tourism, beach tourism, culinary tourism and other types of tourism.