CAIRO: The world's tourism body, UNWTO, said that it welcomes Egypt's new president and says it does not envision a decline in tourists visiting Egypt under his regime. UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, has congratulated Egypt President Mohamed Morsi on his election as Egypt's new leader and has applauded his support for the tourism sector, as expressed in the President's first speech after taking office. “We will work together to encourage investment in all sectors, and restore the role of tourism for the benefit of the Egyptian economy and every citizen in Egypt," said Morsi in that speech. “I warmly congratulate President Morsi on his recent win and welcome his strong commitment to tourism, a major pillar of the Egyptian economy," said Rifai in a statement issued by the UNWTO. “Tourism to Egypt, one of the leading foreign exchange earners and job creators in the country, is showing clear signs of recovery, boosted by political support at the highest level. UNWTO offers its full support to the Egyptian tourism sector and will continue to work closely with the relevant authorities towards its full recovery." Egypt received around 14 million visitors last year, generating some $13 billion. Fears Growing Egypt's tourism ministry officials said they do not expect to see any downturn in the near future of foreign visitors to the country. “They say all the right things, but this isn't enough. We still need to see policy," Sami Mahmoud, head of the international sector at Egypt's Ministry of Tourism, told Egypt's state-owned al-Ahram newspaper this week, following Morsi's victory in the recent presidential election. It comes on the heels of reports that the Muslim Brotherhood would curtail the tourism sector in Egypt, banning alcohol, bikinis from beaches and forcing women to veil. The Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) told Bikyamasr.com in a statement in late June that they “hope to build a new united Egypt" and have “no plans to affect the current situation" when it comes to tourism. Still, worries abound, among both Egyptians and foreigners, over what the future for Egypt will bring. Earlier this year, the FJP, after winning nearly 45 percent of the now possibly dissolved parliament, said that tourists would have the freedom to wear whatever they chose, including bikinis, and that they would have ban alcohol or other foodstuffs. “The party regrets the decline in tourism and other economic activities as one of the repercussions of the January 25 revolution," said Ahmed Suleiman, Chairman of the Tourism Committee of the party, during a meeting organized by the Business Association and attended by representatives of the FJP and foreign tour operators, in January. He pointed out that the party would contribute to the redoubling of “the rates of tourism in the coming period," and that the situation of tourism and its present conditions “would remain the same as before the revolution and this sector will not be subjected to any changes as long as the FJP is represented in the parliament." Suleiman stressed the need to reactivate beach tourism as it is one of the “most popular aspects of tourism in Egypt." He said the FJP is already speculating tourism numbers, “taking a number of measures including the establishment of a series of museums along the Nile Valley to boost the cultural tourism traffic." He pointed out that monuments and statues currently in stores will be taken out and displayed in the order of dynasties, in each governorate of origin, respectively. He explained that the party`s vision is to make good use of nature reserves, medical and therapeutic tourism and conferences. At the same meeting, Ahmed el-Imam, a member of the “tourism boosting committee" of the FJP said the government, without mentioning the military junta by name, “is one of the main reasons afflicting tourism internally, and while Egypt has about 33 percent of the monuments of the world, the state is incapable of utilizing them in an optimum way," saying that the party aims at bringing 25 million tourists annually in the upcoming years.
