Since Egypt's tourism industry faces grave danger following travel ban decisions from several countries fearing possible attacks by Islamic State, which recently claimed responsibility for downing the Russian plane in Sinai, a PR expert is suggesting a solution. The tourist industry generates more than 11 percent of Egypt's GDP. An Egyptian PR expert Nermine Abdel Fattah urged the government to immediately start contacting with Public Relations agencies worldwide, to help improve Egypt's image among international business communities, decision makers, and major countries exporting tourism to Egypt. If this move is taken, Egypt can minimise losses expected as a result of the travel ban decisions for Sharm El-Sheikh, the crown jewel of its tourist industry, she stated. Now is the time to take this action for the sake of Egypt, She said adding that the recent bloody attacks in Paris by the Islamic State emphasise that ‘terrorism knows no border nor religion'. "We must not move backwards; we must cooperate in face of terrorism, to remove this tarnished image adopted by tourists, investors, and world's governments about Egypt." She added during an interview with a local channel Nile Live on Saturday. The Egyptian ministry of foreign affairs can organise a powerful lobby of diplomats, global politicians, media figures, and writers to promote Egypt's image abroad and to reassure the world about the real situation here. Therefore, there would not be any future travel warnings from countries exporting tourism to Egypt, Abdel Fattah suggested. On October 31st, an Airbus A321 operated by Russia's Metrojet crashed in the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people onboard. The local affiliate of extremist group Islamic State has claimed responsibility for downing the plane. The U.S., U.K. and Russia have all suggested the crash was likely a result of a terrorist act. Egypt, dependent on tourism for hard currency, was shaken by the blow to its most important resort, Sharm El-Sheikh following the travel ban and theories referring the plane crash as a terrorist act. Halting passenger flights to Egypt was described by Mohamed Youssef, Adviser to Egyptian Minister of Tourism, as a ‘severe blow'. Egypt's Minister of Tourism, Hisham Zaazou, said Wednesday that the country could lose $281 million a month as a result of the decision made by Britain and Russia to suspend flights to Sharm El-Shaikh following the Sinai plane crash last month. A bomb is believed to have brought the Russian aircraft down, killing all 224 people on board. On Thursday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Communications Department Director Gerry Rice said the crash of the Russian plane over the Sinai Peninsula could have serious repercussions on Egypt's tourist industry, Thursday. "It is too early for us to assess fully the impact on the Egyptian economy, but clearly there could be significant effects on tourism," Rice stated in a briefing. Elsewhere, Abdel Fattah talked about a key initiative to support cooperation between both public and private sectors in Egypt, namely the Partnership for Development Initiative, which is organised by Excellent Communication D&N PR agency run by her. She said the initiative was the first of its kind in Egypt that targets a stronger and more sustainable partnership between the private sector, the state, the civil society, and mass media. This initiative holds a number of conferences and workshops annually to devise a position paper that helps identify the government's economic policies to reform business climate in Egypt. It aims to reach a strategic vision for the shape of partnership between the government and the private sector in order to achieve comprehensive development goals. The initiative has held three conferences so far, most recently November 10th, 2015, entitled "Leasing: A Catalyst promoting national projects and SMEs". It highlighted the leasing sector's importance as one of the most effective and capable funding mechanisms that would fulfill the financial needs of all the projects in Egypt, whether for corporate or SMEs.
