Tourism Minister Zoheir Garranah declared that the number of tourists to Egypt fell by 4.5% last December and January compared to last year because of the global financial crisis. Speaking at the opening session of a conference held yesterday in Alexandria on the economic crisis and its repercussions on tourism, he affirmed that 2009 would be very difficult for this sector and that all the studies and researches that have been carried out have failed to determine when the crisis and its repercussion would end. He explained that according to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), growth rate could fall by 2% this year and stand at 2.6 % in the Middle East (compared to around 16.5% last year). Garrabah said that the Ministry of Tourism has started taking necessary and quick measures and mechanisms to contain the possible losses for tourism in Egypt in light of the financial crisis. Among such measures, he mentioned support to charter flights heading to the different Egyptian airports, support to Egypt's foreign partners (major travel agencies working with the Egyptian tourism sector), and tours in some international markets to be acquainted with the situation there and take the right decisions. He added that he has struck several agreements with Egyptian banks and one with the governor of the Central Bank of Egypt so that loans may continue to be granted to serious investors. This way, these investors can keep on carrying out projects in spite of the crisis, thus taking advantage of the fall of raw material prices. He also pointed out that some actions would be taken in the future with the owners of tourism projects so that they can stop laying off their manpower, saying this is a national security issue. He also affirmed that support would be given to internal tourism in the near future, especially given that the number of hotel rooms in Egypt now amounts to 400,000 and they must be filled.
