Ghada Shalaby — the Deputy Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Tourism Affairs — participated in a professional meeting via video conference with representatives from the British tourism sector to discuss ways to increase the tourist movement from the British market to Egypt. The meeting was attended by Amr Al-Kady, the CEO of the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Board (ETPB); Sherif Kamel, Egypt's Ambassador to the UK; and representatives of the Egyptian Tourism Federation, Egyptian Hotel Association, and Egyptian Travel Agents Association. Shalaby began the meeting by reviewing Egypt's diverse and distinct tourist components. She also mentioned that Egypt continues applying precautionary measures in all hotel and tourist establishments, museums, archaeological sites, airports, and various tourist activities. She stressed that the ministry is following up on implementing this resolutely and punishes violating facilities. Furthermore, Shalaby referred to the hotline launched by the ministry to receive complaints, suggestions, and inquiries from tourists 24 hours a day. She also spoke about facilitating procedures for obtaining entry visas to Egypt, as citizens of 76 countries can obtain the visa electronically from the website designated for that. Moreover, she talked about Egypt's readiness from a tourism perspective to host the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP 27), which will be held in Sharm El-Sheikh this November, explaining that the conference will highlight Sharm El-Sheikh as a green city. Shalaby explained that the COP 27 is an opportunity to shed light on Egypt's efforts to preserve the environment and transform it into renewable and clean energy. She also talked about the major projects undertaken by the state, including the New Administrative Capital (NAC), in addition to new cities such as New Alamein, which offer a distinct tourist product throughout the year. Shalaby added that one of the most important promotional means used by the ministry now is the utilisation of various social networking sites in addition to inviting bloggers and influencers that have higher numbers of followers and media representatives on introductory trips to inform them of the various tourist and archaeological elements enjoyed by the Egyptian tourist destination. On his part, Al-Kady explained that the ETPB recently organised many introductory trips for several bloggers and media professionals, among whom were Britons. For their part, the representatives of the British tourism sector pointed out the importance of Egypt as a tourist destination and their keenness to organise more tourist programmes for the country, especially in light of the increasing demand for it from British tourists, suggesting the implementation of joint promotional campaigns to promote Egypt more in the UK.
