World Tourism Day (WTD) is celebrated each year on September 27. This year, it has fallen into a period of decline in the tourism industry. Nobody can deny that Egyptian tourism – the industry of hope – has been badly affected by the absence of security in the aftermath of the January 25 Revolution as well as irresponsible and damaging statements made about tourism. The Egyptian people hope that tourism will recover. Prime Minister Hisham Qandil expressed the same hope and referred to his expectation that tourism revenues would grow. Qandil's statement is of great importance to those working in the tourism industry. I would like to remind the Prime Minister that the figures he mentioned were modest compared to the statistics of the Central Bank and the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS), which estimated the tourism revenues in 2010 at $12.5 billion based on 14 million tourists. In his attempt to boost the sector, Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou described his expectations: “We can't proceed without a clear-cut plan based on the expertise and support of all State authorities." Zaazou also announced he would receive Chinese tourists at the Pyramids, which is an important step considering that China is a promising tourism market. Promoting tourism cannot happen without the support and expertise of the governmental and private tourism sector represented by the Federation of Tourism Chambers. [email protected] [email protected]
