During a gathering held on Thursday under the auspices of British-Egyptian Businessmen Association (BEBA), attended by an envoy from the British Embassy in Egypt and a galaxy of representatives from the largest tourist and aviation companies in the Middle East, in addition to representatives from the Egyptian Union of Tourism Chambers, Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou said that his Ministry is making every effort to restore the number of tourists coming to Egypt to their level in the good old days. He added that the Ministry is trying to open new tourist markets, increasing the number of charter flights and extending its promotion campaigns worldwide, in order to attract more tourists to Egypt. The Minister said that the British market is an important one, as the number of tourist nights spent here by British tourists was up 11.3 per cent for the period from January to October this year, compared to the same period in 2011. He went on to say that about 83 per cent of British tourists visit Egypt because they like the beaches and coastal tourism; another 13 per cent like cultural tourism and the other 4 per cent enjoy various kinds of tourism. Zaazou emphasised that his Ministry continues to implement joint marketing campaigns and to organise charter flights to Egypt, as well as tours for media people, so they can visit Egyptian tourist destinations and see for themselves the latest developments in infrastructure and services. Minister Zaazou said that Egypt comes 18th in a list of the best 50 tourist destinations worldwide and occupies the first place among tourist destinations in the Middle East and Africa. He underscored the importance of the tourism sector for promoting Egypt's economy, as it accounts for 11.3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), 19.2 per cent of income in hard currency and 12.6 per cent of the total workforce. The Minister also referred to the co-operation protocol signed with the European Union in the field of tourism, adding that the visit last week of Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, to Luxor was a clear message that Egypt was and still is a safe destination for tourists from all over the world. Above all this protocol will give more support to the Egyptian tourism. The number of tourists visiting Egypt rose in September by 8.3 per cent to hit about 994,000, according to the monthly tourist bulletin, issued by the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS).
