CAIRO – The escalation of the worrying situation in the Sinai Peninsula has increased challenges facing post-Revolution Egypt. The prime victims of the absence of a sense of security and stability in the peninsula are the owners of tourist projects and their employees in this area. Preparing to start an interview with the Minister of Tourism Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, it seemed to me that he shared my hope that stability and safety would prevail on the street in Egypt as soon as possible. We were also confident that the entire Egyptian nation was embracing the same hope and yearning for the opportune moment to rebuild Egypt and strengthen the pillars of its investment and economic development. During his interview, Abdel Nour agreed that without stability and security, investors would not be able to relinquish their anxieties about future co-operation in Egypt. He declared that priorities he was determined to achieve include the restoration of investors' confidence in the domestic tourist sector. He also has a dream that Egyptian incoming tourism would overcome its woes and run as fast as it used to do before the outbreak of the January revolution. His chief concerns in his office are the large number of court rulings, which were laid in the furthermost corner of his predecessor's drawer. “Nor was the principle of equality between travel agencies the rule in the tourist sector,” he complained. “This is why from he first moment I assumed my responsibilities in office, I decided to set the house in order, especially after I discovered that a number of travel agencies and companies were penalised illegally [for alleged administrative and financial irregularities].” Abdel Nour emphasised to me that he would fight for justice to prevail among travel agencies, hotels and tourist facilities. He said that he is not happy with the current system of Hajj (pilgrimage) travel, which is “causing much injustice to pilgrims”. He explained that travel agencies unlawfully seize the Saudi visa at the expense of pilgrims. Worse, established travel agencies have the lion's share of the proceeds in this respect only to increase the costs of the holy journey. According to the minister's complaint, the huge profits obtained unscrupulously by travel agencies have encouraged outsiders to establish travel agencies and to grab the Saudi visa and sell them in the black market at high prices. “I am going to radically change this current system,” the minister pledged. He is enthusiastic about the proposed draw to be held for the Saudi visa during the Hajj season. “The winners in the draw would have the choice to contact any travel agency for valid reasons, such as the short distance between it and their homes or the agency's experience in organising the holy journeys,” the minister explained. Abdel Nour is confident that the draw system would expel corrupt middlemen from the market. “Travel agencies will have to mobilise a team of experienced salesmen to contact the winners and arrange their travel to Saudi Arabia.” The minister regretted that the Saudi visa was sold for LE15, 000 (about $ 2,500) and said that under his new strategy, travel agencies would fix their prices in accordance with the quality of services they would offer to their customers. Tourism code In his interview, the Minister of Tourism disclosed that he was planning a unified tourism law, which would be submitted for approval to parliament. “We are racing against the time to issue this new bill as quickly as possible.” In appreciation of the huge task encumbering the Cabinet of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, Abdel Nour invited an ad hoc committee to draw up the proposed bill in his office. SCT meeting The minister substantiated reports disclosing that the Supreme Council of Tourism (SCT) would convene very soon. He has nominated four accomplished hotel officials to sit on the SCT board. They are Ahmed el-Nahas, who will represent the hotel sector, Dr Adel Radi for the tourist development sector, Tarek Amer, who is the board chairman of the National Bank of Egypt, and Mounir Nematalla , the engineer and pioneer of eco-tourism in Siwa Oasis. New markets Abdel Nour said in his interview that, in collaboration with his advisers and aides, he has planned short- and long-term strategies to save Egypt's tourism from its enemies and stoke up its potential. “The short-term plan seeks to reinvigorate tourism industry as quickly as possible,” he stressed. “We will be satisfied if the domestic tourism recovers in the style of its 2010 performance.” He has high hopes that Egypt's tourism will recover healthily this autumn season. He explained that his optimism in this respect increased after receiving reassuring reports from Egyptian Tourist Offices in Frankfurt, Zurich, London and Moscow. “Reports arriving from our office in Paris, nonetheless, remain cautious,” he admitted. He is also confident that within five years starting from now and with the help of wise and ambitious strategies, Egypt's visitors will outnumber the 2010 numbers. To achieve his ambitions in this respect, the Minister of Tourism has deployed his pathfinders to explore new markets in China, India, Vietnam, Brazil, Argentina, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Arab markets, which remained relatively unexplored previously and will also witness an aggressive promotional and marketing campaign. “For example, the Arab countries of Iraq and member states of the Arab Maghreb [Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria] have not yet been exploited successfully by Egypt's tourism,” he added. Inconveniences hindering Egyptian tourism industry's efforts to obtain success in these Arab markets include visa restrictions and security concerns. Abdel Nour indicated that he was planning to encourage a greater number of Iraqi Kurds and Iranians to visit Egypt's Muslim holy sites. He accepted that Egypt's religious tourism was an inexhaustible goldmine, which should be given priority in any plans sought to put the domestic tourism on the right track again. But he expressed fears that all these ambitions would crumble if Muslim radicals, locally known as Salafis [ultra-fundamentalist Islamists] refused to give up their anti-tourism leanings. Nevertheless, he noted, “Regardless of the present circumstances in Egypt and exaggerated press reports, the arrival of Arab tourists in the country is satisfactory.” 1000 smiles in France In his interview, the Minister of Tourism disclosed to The Egyptian Gazette that an extraordinary publicity campaign would be launched in France on September 21. The new campaign named ‘1000 Smiles' coincides with the ‘Top Resa' exhibition in the French capital. “We are expecting good news from the French market late this year,” he declared confidently. The ministry's publicity strategists work in collaboration with tour operators overseas. Media role In appreciation of the role of members of the media in helping boost Egypt's publicity campaign, the Ministry of Tourism has forwarded invitations to a large number of television crews and other media representatives in different countries to come over and have a first-hand experience of Egypt. When he returns from a visit to Paris on September 24, Abdel Nour will escort on his plane a high-level team of French journalists and television officials and crews. Arab tourism chiefs' conf Abdel Nour is scheduled to take part in the two-day conference of Arab Ministers of Tourism, held September 28 and 29 in Aqaba, where he will deliver Egypt's speech. Concluding his talks in Jordan on October 2, he will directly depart for Berlin to participate in what he described as an important meeting by charter flights agencies, low-cost airlines and tour operators being launched under the banner ‘Routes'. Direct flights to L.America Abdel Nour confirmed the importance of Latin America tourist markets. He explained: “We are planning to encourage another Arab country to co-operate with our marketing campaign in the Latin American markets.” According to this new marketing strategy, Egypt also has to synchronise its steps with Turkey in the Chinese markets. Nile Cruises The minister confirmed that he would not give the green light for the Nile Cruises organisers to resume their activities from Cairo to Aswan in November until plans had been concluded to boost marinas and roads. The Ministry of Tourism is also interested in suggestions that have been made to persuade tourist guides, salespeople in bazaars, etc. in town that boats moor in, such as Luxor and Aswan, to stop their annoying behaviour towards tourists. Members of the committee assigned by Abdel Nour to oversee the achievements of these tasks represent the Ministries of Irrigation, Transport and Local Government respectively. World Tourism Day The Minister stated confidently that festivities planned by the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) to celebrate World Tourism Day in Egypt on September 27 this year would be unprecedented and more extraordinary than others staged before in different countries. “In an acknowledgement of Egypt's regional and international role, a huge number of world celebrities and dignitaries will take part in the official event in Aswan,” he disclosed. According to Abdel Nour the WTO celebrations will coincide with the re-opening of the renowned Nileside Cataract Hotel in this Upper Egyptian town after it has undergone extensive refurbishment and renovation. Avenue of the Rams The Minister disclosed to The Egyptian Gazette that festivities suggested to mark the opening of the first stage of excavations on the Avenue of the Rams in Luxor between Luxor and Karnak Temples would take place in late October this year. In addition to these two events, the resumption of the long Nile cruises in November this year would reflect patently positively on tourism.
