I started writing this week's article as I was sitting on a balcony commanding a perfect view of the Egyptian, Saudi and Jordanian sides of the Gulf of Aqaba on the Red Sea. At that time, we had just concluded the 14th meeting of the Council of Arab Ministers of Tourism, which took place in the Jordanian port and city of Aqaba. My journey to this destination began by travelling from Cairo to Aswan on September 26 to witness the global estivities organised in this Upper Egyptian town to mark the World Tourism Day the next day. We left Aswan to return to Cairo and then continued our journey to Amman on September 28, directly going to the Jordanian capital to take part in the meetings of the Arab Ministers of Tourism. Aqaba has been declared the Capital of Arab Tourism this year, which regional award went to Egypt's coastal city and port of Alexandria last year. The Minister of Tourism Mounir Fakhri Abdel-Nour also boarded the plane bound for Amman (and then Aqaba) to lead the Egyptian delegation in the Arab ministerial meeting. The Egyptian minister was escorted by Dr Taleb Refai, Secretary-General of the UN's World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and his wife Nessrin Refai and the organisation's Middle East Regional Manager Amr Abdel-Ghafar. The Egyptian delegation included: Ambassador Helmi Bedir, Egyptian Minister of Tourism adviser (who has represented Egypt in the Arab Ministerial Council for many years); Ms Wessam Hamed, under-secretary of the Ministry of Tourism for International Relationships, and Ms Reda Ahmed, International Relationship senior official and Arab League contact. On our arrival at Amman Airport, we were received by: Chancellor Wael el-Naggar of the Egyptian Embassy; Dr. Haifaa Abu-Ghazala, Jordan's Minister of Tourism and Antiquities; Hisham Heikal, under-secretary in the minister's ofice; Michel Nezal, chairman of the Federation of Jordanian Travel Associations and the Society of Jordanian Hotels chairman. We eventually checked in at the Inter-Continental Hotel at 10.30 pm after a long and exhausting day of travelling, which had started in the Aswan Cataract Hotel at 10.30 am.2nd Economic Forum in Aqaba Next morning, we were immediately invited to take part in the opening of the 2nd Economic Forum in Aqaba, which was held under the banner ‘Towards Creativity and Management in Tourism Investment'. However, its wording was changed to ‘Towards Innovative Management in Tourism Investment' by the former Jordanian Minister of Tourism Akl Beltagui. Due to its vital importance, the economic forum was held under the patronage of King Abdullah of Jordan and was opened by the Jordanian Prime Minister Dr. Maarouf Al-Bakhit. The Prime Minister stressed that in the first eight months this year more than three million tourists had been persuaded to come to his country. Al-Bakhit proudly added that these tourists spent more than 1.3 billion Jordanian dinars during their stay. Tourism and investment The day-long forum was divided into five sessions (starting at 10.30 a.m. and ending at 7.30 p.m.). Its focused on the following themes: ‘Tourism Industry and its Impact on Battles Against Poverty and Employment'; ‘Investment Opportunities in the Rosy Triangle of Wadi Rum, Aqaba and Al-Petra'; Tourism Investment Opportunities in Jordan'; Management of Tourist Destinations, Tourist Media and Tourism Investment Guarantees'; and ‘Investment in Human Capital to Upgrade Human Resources in Arab Tourism'. Key speakers in the opening ceremony included: Dr Haifaa Abu-Ghazala, the Jordanian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities; Nael el-Kabariti, head of the Jordanian Trade Chamber (the forum's organiser), Engineer Eissa Ayoub, head of Aqaba Economic Region; Sheikh Bandar Ibn Fahd Al-Fahid, chairman of the Arab Tourism Organisation; and Dr. Taleb Refai, UNWTO Secretary-General. Zakat in tourism During discussions, the leading Arab businessman and investor Sheikh Saleh Kamel came up with a brilliant argument, in which he addressed tourism from an Islamic perspective. Sheikh Kamel declared that tourism is recommended in the holy text of Qur'an. He also said that tourists are religiously eligible for paying their share of zakat (obligatory alms). Sheikh Saleh Kamel said that the tourists' share of zakat is spent on paving roads leading to tourist destinations, and the construction of tourist facilities to encourage tourists to come to Jordan.$1.4b investments in Jordan in 2010 The Jordanian Minister of Tourism and Antiquity revealed that about $1.4 billion were invested in tourist projects in her country last year. She explained that her ministry was increasingly paying interest to small- and medium-size tourist projects and encouraging local municipalities to increase their contribution to investment drive. Arab tourism's $7b losses We eventually boarded the plane bound to Cairo on which was the Chairman of the Arab Tourism Organisation, who estimated at $7 billion the losses incurred by Arab tourism as a result of the Arab Spring in the region. He called for an immediate strategy to upgrade Arab tourism and help it overcome its challenges. Tourism's contribution to world income The UNWTO Secretary-General highlighted the economic influence of tourism industry when he reckoned that tourism industry is contributing by 5.2% to the world's collective income. El-Refai described tourism as the third largest industry, which is also growing faster than its main rivals. In his speech, Refai expressed his appreciation of a statement by Egypt's Minister of Tourism, who termed tourism as “an inexhaustible oil field”. Muscat selected as Arab Tourism Capital The meeting of the Council of Arab Ministers of Tourism was opened by Tawfiq Krishan, Deputy Prime Minister in Jordan. Taking into consideration that Egypt was the chairman of the council's 13th session last year, the Egyptian Minister of Tourism Mounir Fakhri Abdel Nour presented the presidency of this year's meeting to his Jordanian counterpart. The Arab Ministers of Tourism unanimously selected the Omani capital city of Muscat as the Capital of Arab Tourism for 2012. The Arab ministers also called upon Arab member states to help confront Israel's plans seeking to treacherously add landmarks of Palestinian heritage in the occupied territories land and in the Golan Heights to Israeli tourist programmes distributed overseas. The Arab ministers also decided to hold their 15th session in Iraq next year. Messages from Aswan I would like to stress here that Aswan's festivities on World Tourism Day concluded with six messages. The first was to increase optimism that Aswan would soon be buzzing with tourist activities after the sharp 25 per cent decline (11 million tourists from 15 million in 2010) in tourism activities as a result of the aftermath of the revolution on January 25. The second message highlighted the fact that ‘tourism is an inexhaustible oilfield'. The brilliant comparison was made by the Egyptian Minister of Tourism. Thirdly, Egypt's future is chiefly based on tourism and that all sectors in Egypt should appreciate this fact and rally behind one another to realise it. Fourthly, tourism has the potential to stimulate fruitful interaction between the world's different cultures to achieve peace, mutual understanding and fraternity. The fifth message sent from Aswan confirmed that the Egyptians are determined to preserve their heritage. This fact has been highlighted in the three-year restoration of Aswan's legendary Cataract Hotel to preserve its historical and architectural legacy. The major restoration and maintenance included revamping the hotel's networks of electricity, water and air conditioning together with rooms, restaurants and all other facilities. The adjacent New Cataract Hotel has also benefited during this three-year restoration by having all its rooms upgraded to suites and by being integrated with the Old Cataract. The hotel's reopening coincided with the start of UNWTO's celebrations of World Tourism Day. The Aswan Cataract celebrated its reopening by laying out the red carpet to receive VIP guests and international celebrities, who took part in the UNWTO event in Aswan. Some of the guests were invited to stay in Aswan Mövenpick. The three hotels are in the ownership of EGOTH, which is ffiliated to the Holding Company for Tourism, Hotels and Cinema. Recognising that the countdown to the UNWTO event was quickening, a high-level team of officials led by Ali Abdel-Aziz, the board chairman of the Holding Company for Tourism, Hotels and Cinema, sped to Aswan to ensure the Aswan Cataract restoration was running smoothly and would be completed in time to receive VIP guests. Abdel-Aziz was escorted by Nabil Selim, EGOTH's board chairman, engineer Adel Wali, its managing director for technical affairs and accountant Sami Khafagui, board member for financial and administrative affairs. Spectacular performance Engineer Eissam Abdel-Hadi, chairman of the Egyptian Sound and Light Company, received well-deserved credit from Egyptian and foreign guests and officials for the spectacular sound and light performance staged with the backdrop of the fabulous Philae Temples of Isis. The guests also enjoyed a dinner party organised in a fascinating atmosphere inside the temple. Egypt's guests were also received by Fathi Nour, chairman of Misr Hotels Company; Mohamed Shafiq, chairman Achit; Sami Nassar, Accor's regional manager in the Middle East; and leading hotel managers, including Khaled Helmi, Dino Boustani and Zeinab el-Bourai. The Minister of Tourism was flanked by Amr el-Ezabi, chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Authority, Hisham Zazu, first assistant to the Minister of Tourism, Ambassador Helmi Bedir, the minister's adviser, Ms. Omayma el-Husseini, PR general-manager in the Ministry of Tourism.
Aswan independent tourist destination The last message sent from Aswan during the UNWTO event highlighted that this beautiful Upper Egyptian town on the River Nile has the great potential to establish itself as an independent and unique tourist destination in Egypt.
