Diplomacy must precede tourism campaign for Egypt: Experts

Tourism ministry intensifies meetings with foreign companies to prepare for the winter season

Tourism experts requested that both the ministries of Tourism and Foreign Affairs begin their joint work in main markets that export inbound travel to Egypt.
They said that the joint work between the two ministries comes in light of preparations made by the company that won a tender for the tourism promotional campaign, which will be launched in October.
Media adviser of the tourism minister, Rasha El-Azaizy said that the ministry has requested from JWT Company to intensify promotions for cultural tourism in Luxor and Aswan in a way that increases the flow of tourists to Egypt by the beginning of the winter season in November.
Speaking with Daily News Egypt last week, CEO of JWT Company Hany Shoukry said that the company won the tender to promote Egypt abroad for three years.
Shoukry said that the campaign will begin this October from Egypt, by Egyptians, as they will invite foreigners to visit their country. He added that the campaign cost per year is estimated at $22.5m. The promoting company will obtain a percentage that ranges between 3% and 4% of total campaign value per year.
El-Azaizy added that the minister's schedule is stable. No changes in his meetings and appointments with officials were made due to the resignation of the government.
The government is intensifying its meetings with foreign companies currently in order to prepare for the winter season, according to El-Azaizy.
The Ministry of Tourism hopes to increase the number of tourist arrivals by a percentage ranging between 5% and 7% by the end of this year, compared to 9.9 million tourists last year.
Tourism income achieved throughout the past seven months of this year reached $3.9bn, according to an official in the tourism ministry, who added that expectations indicate that by the end of the year, tourism income will exceed $7.5bn.
The official, who preferred to keep anonymity, said that the promotional campaign will have a great positive effect on increasing the number of arrivals to Egypt during this winter season.
Meanwhile, Vice Chairman of the Floating Hotels Investors Association Abdel Rahman Anwar said that the campaign will be useless without coordination between both the ministries of Tourism and Foreign Affairs, in addition to diplomatic movements to persuade travel organisers not to change flight destinations to other countries.
A large percentage of European companies are reluctant to organise tour packages to Egypt in the absence of insurance companies that provide tourists with insurance protection, according to Anwar.