Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou is set to attend the ITB Berlin fair, one of the largest tourism trade fairs in the world, where the ministry will aim to "correct the image of the security situation in Egypt and encourage tourists to return", according to ministry spokeswoman Rasha El-Azazzi. The minister will also hold a press conference, to be attended by Jurgen Drensek, the honourary president of the German Association of Travel Journalists. The fair, officially titled "Discover the Danube at ITB Berlin", will kick off on 5 March and last for four days. On 26 February, Germany's foreign ministry strongly advised against travel to all regions of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. The ministry had previously warned against travel in northern Sinai, Taba and the Egyptian-Israeli border area. The following day, German tour operators started bringing tourists back from Sharm El- Sheikh. The minister will also review the ministry's future projects in the tourism sector and the government's efforts to address the sector's current predicament. Tourism rates have been improving on a monthly basis but declining year on year, by which metric arrivals fell 30.7%, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics. Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said Sunday in a speech at The American University in Cairo that encouraging trade and tourism is essential to boosting the Egyptian Economy .
