Egypt's Minister of Tourism Rania Al-Mashat has hailed Germany's decision to lift a ban preventing German nationals from travelling to the Egyptian resort town of Taba in eastern Sinai. "The German decision will greatly contribute to increasing the number of German tourists, especially those flocking to tourist destinations in South Sinai," the minister told state-run MENA news agency on Saturday. The minister added that this step also testifies to the secure and stable environment in Egypt as well as the robust political and economic ties between Egypt and Germany. Egypt's Ambassador to Germany Badr Abdel-Ati announced earlier that the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs introduced on 28 June several amendments to the travel guidelines for Egypt-bound German travellers. He added that the amendments included ending a travel ban to Taba, one of Egypt's top vacation spots, which had been in force since 2014. Abdel-Ati affirmed that such positive transformation reflected the stability and security enjoyed by Egypt and the strength of bilateral relations over the past four years, as well as the frequent meetings between high level officials of both countries, the latest of which was between Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday in Japan's Osaka on the sidelines of the G-20 summit.
