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Egypt's tourism to contribute 15% to GDP this year: Al-Mashat "We exerted substantial efforts in developing hotels, airports, now we need to focus on promotion campaigns," says Al-Zayat
The Tourism Minister, Rania Al-Mashat, expected that the tourism sector will contribute 15% of Egypt's gross domestic product (GDP) this year, according to Reuters. Al-Mashat stated that Egypt, as a tourist destination, still has a lot to offer, pointing out that the Grand Egyptian Museum, which will be completed in 2020, will be a distinctive symbol of Egyptian tourism. The number of visitors have increased by around 40% year-over-year (y-o-y) at the end of September. "If the trend continues it will mean annual tourist numbers will top 10 million for the first time since 2012, compared with 7.5 million in 2017," Al-Mashat declared. In Swept ember, Egypt was named the fastest growing tourist destination by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). Former head of Egyptian Tourism Federation, Elhamy Al-Zayat, informed Daily News Egypt that choosing Egypt as the fastest growing destination was expected due to the severe decline that happened in 2016. "When comparing the bad results of tourism in 2016 to this year's, we will see a great shift," Al-Zayat said. Following the 2011 revolution, the tourism sector suffered severely, but the worst period was in 2016, after the crash of the Russian passenger flight over Sinai late October 2015, he added. Al-Zayat explained that recovering tourism requires launching an epic marketing campaign to promote it. "We exerted substantial efforts in developing hotels and airports, and now we need to focus on promotion campaigns," Al-Zayat said. Al-Mashat said earlier that the number of tourists visiting Egypt jumped by 30 % during the first quarter of 2018, compared to the same period of 2017, noting that tourism now represents 15% of Egypt's total income.
