CAIRO, April 8, 2018 - Minister of Tourism Rania el Mashat and Red Sea Governor Ahmed Abdullah met the German Minister of Economic Co-operation and Development Gerd Muller to discuss technical training for Egyptian hotel staffers and benefiting from German expertise in Egypt's tourism sector, the Ministry said in a statement on Sunday. El-Mashat urged the German side to review the restrictions on German airlines with regard to Sinai. She said she had also discussed this with German officials when she attended the International Tourism Bourse, Berlin (ITB) 2018in March. El-Mashat also asked the German Minister to review the taxes imposed on German tourists going to Egypt which amounted to 27 euros and was higher than taxes imposed on other destinations like Turkey where the tax was only seven euros. Muller is currently on a holiday visit to Hurghada. He expressed his admiration for the resort city with its clement weather and the feeling of security it gave him when he toured it. In another development, El-Mashat also discussed with Patricia Espinosa, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), means of co-operation in the sustainable development of tourism. Espinosa was attending a workshop on national climate change, held in Sharm El Sheikh on April 4-6. During the meeting, el-Mashat spoke of the ministry's work in the sphere of sustainable tourism, referring to the (Green Star Hotel) local certificate which is awarded only to hotels and resorts that comply with world sustainability standards. The certificate has been recognised by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). Espinosa praised Egypt's experience in applying the Green Star Hotel programme, welcoming co-operation with the ministry in this domain.
