VISA and Lonely Planet launched a small tourism website including all travel experts' advices about the most important international touristic places – including Egypt – and the best payment methods. By visiting www.visa.com/lonelyplanet, users can find information about how they can obtain their money in 12 countries including: Australia, China, Croatia, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, and Ukraine. The website also contains all basic touristic services such as ATM locations, suggested programs and a touristic calendar for the most important events in the 12 countries. Users can also post questions about their travel through “Ask the Expert,” where they can get detailed answers for each question. The number of the tourists who visited Egypt during 2010 was 12.7 million. They spent 57.9 billion EGP (U.S. $9.69 billion), which represents 11 percent Egyptian GDP. General Manager of VISA Tarek el-Husseiny said: “We are trying to find ways to provide new advantages and valuable services for VISA users all over the world. VISA launches an initiative to support the Egyptian tourism.” The users also can find all necessary tools for travelers, like free desktop applications including a countdown clock. There is also information about local weather and currencies in different countries. And the application “Just Landed” can provide a guide to all touristic destinations and includes the most important sentences to use in different situations in the local language. An official in VISA, Ross Jackson, said, “The study indicated that 7 of 10 travelers use the internet as the main channel to planning their vacation. So the real challenge is to provide the users with information that can be updated.” Manager of work development of Lonely Planet's website, Edy Kits, said travelers mostly visit Lonely Planet's website to get the answers for their questions about the best way of accessing their money outside. So, the cooperation between VISA and Lonely Planet helps users to safely access their money from different countries.
