Issa Participates in 71st Meeting of ACI

Egypt's Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa has participated in the 71st meeting of the Airports Council International for the Africa Region (ACI).

The conference was held in Cairo from February 24 to March 1, 2024, under the slogan "Airports: The locomotive of sustainable economic and social development."

 The conference was opened by Lieutenant General Mohamed Abbas Helmy, Minister of Civil Aviation, and hosted by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, represented by the Egyptian Holding Company for Airports and Navigation. A number of distinguished individuals also attended, including Ambassador Soha Gendy, Minister of State for Immigration and Affairs of Egyptians Abroad, Dr. Nevin Al-Kilani, Minister of Culture, Dr. Mahmoud Esmat, Minister of Public Business Sector, and Engineer Mohamed Saeed, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Egyptian Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation.

Mr. Emmanuel Chavez, President of Airports Council International in Africa, Mr. Luis de Olivier, Director General of ACI International, Mr. Ali Al-Tunisi, Secretary-General of Airports Council International in Africa, and a number of individuals responsible for the airport industry in Africa also attended.

In his address, Issa expressed his pleasure at participating in the conference and welcomed all the participants from African countries. He noted that more than 90% of incoming tourism to Egypt depends on aviation, making it the primary means of reaching the Egyptian tourist destination.

He reviewed Egypt's share of the global tourism movement, which rose to 1.2% in 2023, representing a 33% growth compared to its share in 2019, which was 0.9%. He explained that there were more than 1.4 billion people who traveled in the world during the year 2019. In 2028, the global tourism and travel movement is expected to reach between 1.7 and 1.8 billion travelers worldwide.

The minister pointed out that, in light of the national strategy for tourism development in Egypt launched by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and approved by His Excellency the President, Egypt aims to reach a share of global tourism traffic of 1.6% to 1.7% in 2028. This will enable it to achieve its industry goals and attract 30 million tourists.

He also reviewed the importance of the tourism industry in Egypt, as it is one of the main pillars of the national economy and has a direct impact on enhancing growth rates of national income. It is also one of the most important sources of revenue in the current account within the balance of payments. This industry is a labor-intensive service industry and is interconnected with many other complementary industries that provide job opportunities directly and indirectly.

Moreover, Issa stressed the importance of continuous work, coordination, and integration between the Ministries of Tourism and Antiquities, and Civil Aviation, to achieve the industry's goals and link Egyptian cities and tourist destinations to each other.

He also spoke about the positive indicators and rates achieved by tourism in Egypt in the number of tourist traffic coming to it during the year 2023. It witnessed its highest rates reaching a record number of 14.906 million tourists, and in 2010, which was the peak year, it achieved 14.731 million tourists. As a result of the industry's ability to withstand, it achieved about 3.6 million tourists during the last quarter of 2023, a growth of 6% over the fourth quarter of 2022. This growth continued during the first fifty days of 2024, which witnessed an increase in the number of incoming tourist traffic by 6% compared to that in 2023.

Issa further emphasized that the Ministry will cooperate actively and permanently with the Ministry of Civil Aviation through the national strategy for tourism development in Egypt, as aviation is one of the three main axes of this strategy, in addition to improving the tourist experience and improving the tourism investment climate, especially in the field of hotels in Egypt.