Deputy Minister for Tourism Affairs Ghada Shalaby, on behalf of Minister Khaled El-Anany, has taken part in the 45th edition of the international tourism exhibition HUNGEXPO, which is running from 3 to 6 March in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, with Egypt participating as a guest of honour. During the event, Shalaby held several meetings with Hungarian officials in the presence of Mohamed Al-Shennawy, Egypt's Ambassador in Budapest. Her first meeting was with Tamás Menczer — Hungary's State Secretary for Information and International Representation — where she explained that her current visit to Hungary on behalf of the minister aims to strengthen relations with the Hungarian side in tourism and antiquities. She also reviewed the efforts of the Egyptian state to restore the tourist movement to its pre-pandemic rates, stressing Egypt's keenness to open new tourist markets and that it welcomes all tourists from different countries of the world. Furthermore, Shalaby stressed Egypt's keenness to increase the number of Hungarian tourists coming to the country and shed light on the many tourist patterns that characterise the Egyptian tourist destination. She explained that the HUNGEXPO international tourism exhibition represents an excellent opportunity to review these tourist patterns. On his part, Menczer emphasised the depth of Egyptian-Hungarian relations based on mutual respect. Shalaby also met with Peter Toth — the Deputy Minister of State for Transportation and Aviation Affairs in Hungary — in the presence of Bassem Abdel Karim — the Assistant Minister of Civil Aviation — to discuss ways to push more incoming tourism from Hungary to Egypt and encourage charter airlines that can travel to various Egyptian tourist destinations such as Luxor and Al-Alamein. Moreover, she met with Szabolcs Szilagyi — the Vice President of the Hungarian Tourism Agency — to discuss ways of fostering cooperation with the Egyptian side to benefit from the outstanding Hungarian experience in the field of medical tourism, especially in light of what Egypt possesses in this regard and within the framework of its efforts to diversify its tourism. The Egyptian official also invited the Hungarian Tourism Agency to hold their annual conference in Egypt in May along with some Hungarian bloggers to highlight the country's diverse tourism potential. Shalaby also participated in an Egyptian night organised by the Egyptian General Authority for Tourism Activation in cooperation with the Egyptian Embassy in Hungary, during which she gave a presentation in which she explained the measures taken by Egypt to gradually resume the incoming tourist movement through the strategy of the tourism ministry that prioritises the safety of citizens, tourism workers, and tourists.
