Cairo - Egypt's President 'Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi' chaired on Tuesday the first meeting of the Supreme Tourism Council. The tourism minister reviewed travel indexes of 2016, which included the number of tourists, the average number of tourist nights, the volume of tourist spending and hotel occupancy rates, said presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef. The meeting, he added, also took up goals the tourism sector was working to achieve this year. Plans for new tourist sites in Egypt were also probed, Youssef said. Figuring high in the meeting were also challenges facing the flow of tourism, the spokesman further said. The council also discussed coordination mechanisms among the different ministries to implement tourism development plans, he added. It also tackled the possibility of implementing the open skies' policy with the aim of encouraging private airlines to increase their flights to Egypt, Youssef noted. Ways of upgrading medical and religious tourism were also tackled, the spokesman said. Sisi stressed the vital importance of the tourism sector, which plays an important role in creating jobs for youth, Youssef added. He gave his directives to up efforts to promote tourist attractions in Egypt, he noted.
