Egypt's Antiquities and Tourism Minister Khaled El-Anany suggested on Wednesday that the international community form a committee to unify anti-coronavirus precautionary measures for the travel and tourism industry in light of the different policies adopted by each country, a statement by the ministry said. The minister made the remarks in a speech at the opening of the 112th session of the Executive Council of the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) in Tbilisi, Georgia. The session was attended by Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia, Secretary-General of the UNWTO Zurab Pololikashvili, and 170 ministers and officials responsible for tourism from 24 countries. According to the statement, El-Anany's proposal was praised by the attendees and the secretary-general of the World Tourism Organisation. El-Anany began his speech by thanking Pololikashvili for his visit to Egypt in August, which was his first outside Europe after the emergence of the coronavirus, the statement said. The Egyptian minister also told the UNWTO council about the precautionary measures and health safety protocols taken by Egypt to ensure the safety of tourists, citizens and workers in the tourism sector, in addition to reviewing Egypt's successful experience of resuming tourism. On 1 July, Egypt announced the gradual resumption of international flights at its airports nationwide in line with the resumption of beach tourism in the South Sinai, Red Sea, and Matrouh governorates. More than 600 hotels nationwide have been allowed to reopen after adhering to the safety protocols announced by the authorities and at a reduced occupancy of 50 percent. El-Anany concluded his speech by calling for using and activating the slogan "Travel Today," instead of the organisation's current slogan "Travel Tomorrow," in order to preserve this important industry, which provides tens of millions of job opportunities to the world's citizens. A group photo of the attendees at the opening of the 112th session of the Executive Council of the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) held in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday (Photo courtesy of Egyptian Cabinet)
