Sharm El-Sheikh Shines in 2020

British and French tourism movement returned to the charming city of Sharm El-Sheikh, as yesterday, the first French charter flight arrived at Sharm El-Sheikh airport, while last Thursday, the first British flight arrived at the airport.

Sharm El-Sheikh proved to the whole world that it is a city of security and peace, while the World Youth Forum this week was the best evidence of that, the young people were ambassadors of the whole world, witnessing the development and the renaissance in Egypt.

In addition to the security,  Sharm El-Sheikh enjoys amid a lake of conflicts in the Middle East,  as President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi was able to make Egypt an oasis of stability, peace, and development.

Sharm El-Sheikh emerged as a bride of the Middle East, thanks to the efforts of Major General Khaled Fouda, who turned it into a beehive to make it appear in the its best images. It absorbed all the Forum's guests, young people, officials, heads of state and public figures, it represented an oasis of security and safety.

Thanks God, tourist trips and charter flights resumed after a 4-year suspension, with the expectations of the return of Russian tourism as soon as possible. Experts also expect  the number of English tourists in Egypt to reach one million in 2020, while the occupancy rates in hotels will rise from 50% to 80%, during the coming months and it will be a good year for the Egyptian tourism.

We have suffered a lot from the severe crisis that the tourism sector was exposed to in 2011; any negative factor to the tourism sector -the backbone of the economy, could affect every Egyptian citizen .. Therefore, we hope that Russian and Italian tourism will also return to Egypt.

We also look forward to achieving the goal set by the Ministry of Tourism to increase the number of tourists to 12 million tourists in 2020, an increase of 11% compared to the previous year, and  increase the tourist nights to reach 127 million nights instead of 113 million nights last year.

I think that active Minister of Tourism, Rania Al-Mashat, is able to achieve this goal, especially after the increase in the tourism movement last year by 16.5% following the great improvement in security and stability conditions, according to a report of the World Economic Forum for Competitiveness in Travel and Tourism.

The Ministry's efforts with the Tourism Promotion Authority have achieved great success in promoting Egyptian tourism, especially at the international exhibitions.

Last year, about 415,000 British tourists visited Egypt, most of them were in Hurghada and Marsa Alam. Despite all the restrictions imposed on flights to Sharm El Sheikh, and despite the costs, British tourists adore Egypt and its charming beaches and destinations; this pushes us to prepare to receive more British tourists, prepare the appropriate programs for the English market, and develop the tourism sector in general.

The world is witnessing a great development in this field, so we must have a new look at this important sector, to meet its needs and overcome the obstacles it faces.