Tourism Minister Rania Al-Mashat inaugurated Egypt's pavilion at the Tourism Expo Japan in Osaka on Friday. The exhibition, one of the biggest international tourism industry events, is taking place from Thursday to Sunday. Al-Mashat will be a keynote speaker at a ministerial roundtable to be held as part of the expo under the theme of “Community Vitalisation: People and Culture.” In pre-departure statements, Al-Mashat stressed the importance of Egypt's participation in international tourism forums and events. She also said that the expo provides a good opportunity to meet with major Japanese travel agencies to discuss their proposals on means of cooperation and increasing the number of Japanese tourists visiting Egypt. Al-Mashat will hold meetings with a number of Japanese tourism officials, including the chairman of the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) Hiromi Tagawa.
