CAIRO: Egyptians must refrain from claiming that Islamic trends, who oppose certain kinds of tourism, won the parliamentary elections because 80 percent of the electoral districts will hold runoff elections, said Egyptian Minister of Tourism Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour. “The parliament is for all people; everyone must respect it,” said Nour. “Egypt is promoting itself in foreign markets to revive its tourism after the January 25 Revolution,” Nour continued. “Our priorities will not change due to the new parliament,” continued Nour, who was asked to stay on as Tourism Minister in the recent ministerial reshuffle. “The ministry is now promoting new tourism resources including conferences and long Nile cruises,” he said. The first long Nile cruise was relauched last week from Manyal al-Rawda Port in Cairo, he said. The cruise passed through Giza, Beni Suef, Minya, Asyut and finally will arrive at the Sohag governorate. Many officials in the ministries of tourism, transportation, defense, interior and water and immigration joined to cruise. “Long Nile cruises are a promising tourism attraction,” Nour said. “They contribute to developing and sustaining jobs all over Egypt.”
