EGYPT, which has weathered a postrecession season with more tourists, is gearing up to bounce back in 2010, Tourism Minister Zoheir Garranah said in Berlin on Thursday. Garranah, who held a series of meetings with key travel agents on the sidelines of the 44th edition of the International Tourism Exhibition in Berlin, told The Gazette that Egypt fared better than most countries, in 2009 as the country received more than 12.5 million tourists. He said that the Ministry had started applying mechanisms to help boost Egypt's tourism industry. The Ministry has changed its advertisement campaigns to focus on promoting Egypt as an affordable holiday destination abroad …quot; particularly in Europe, from where 75 per cent of Egypt's tourists come, Garranah said. He said that the Ministry had also exempted hotels from contributing to the Tourism Promotion Authority and cut the fees paid by charter flights. Garranah said the Aviation Ministry had also agreed to reduce landing, take-off and ground-handling fees for charter flights,waiving them entirely for charter flights making 11 trips to designated destinations in the span of three months. Meanwhile, Klaus Laepple, the president of the German Travel Agencies' Federation, said that the Egyptian Government was praised for giving incentives to tourists and the tourism sector as a whole without affecting the quality of services offered. Laepple said that he expected the advertising campaigns conducted in European countries for Egypt as a tourist destination would have a positive impact on visitor rates.
