Egypt's tourism sector will rebound following the Sharm El-Sheikh Economic Summit which will send a positive message to foreign investors, Managing Director of Travco Egypt Amany El-Torgman expects. El-Torgman stressed the significance of ending the Economic Summit "safely" to validate its aim, which is to regain the confidence in the Egyptian market. "The summit will be an indication of the security situation in Egypt to all foreign markets," she added. The coming period will be a prosperous one for the tourism sector regardless of the several opportunities, El-Torgman noted. She expected that Egypt's security will be in its optimum form in one or two years "after investors finish implementing their projects". The Ministry of Tourism is targeting investments worth EGP 10bn by launching five tourism projects across the Red Sea area. The projects announced will be in the hotel, entertainment and service sectors, according to an official at the ministry. The official said the number of hotel rooms in the five projects exceeds 3,000, in addition to entertainment and commercial projects that aim to increase Egypt's tourism expenditure. Egypt has been dependant on a promotional campaign to restore tourism, with the latest campaign "Misr Qareeba" (Egypt is Close) launched in late February. The campaign specifically targets the Arab market, to support inter-Arab tourism, the tourism ministry said. Former Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou, removed in the cabinet reshuffle on 5 March, said the focus on Arab tourism is not a luxury but a necessity. This is especially in light of the importance of Arab tourism, the high level of Arab tourists' spending, and length of occupancy.
