(AFP Photo / Khaled Desouki)
By Abdel-Razaq Al-Shuweikhi
The Ministry of Tourism has spent $10m since the beginning of last year to fund a public relations campaign to promote tourism throughout Egypt.
An official within the General Authority to Stimulate Tourism, stated that the Ministry won’t release new international tenders to be used for the promotion of tourist destinations within the country before the end of the current year. The release of such tenders is contingent upon stability and the return of calm onto the Egyptian street.
The Ministry of Tourism has set aside $40m yearly for tourist promotion in a number of foreign markets, to be funded by the country’s Tourism Fund, created by the private sector.
At the end of last year, the Ministry of Tourism ended procedures to open up new bids, following the outbreak of violence and political turmoil following the release of the Constitutional Declaration announced by former President Mohamed Morsi in November 2012. The Tourism Fund provides money for marketing campaigns hosted by the Ministry in international markets, at a cost of $40m per year. Egypt has witnessed a 24.5% decrease in tourism over the last two months since last July, with primary indicators increasing to 75% last August.
The official stated that, “we are studying the directives of Zaazou to support international companies with their marketing campaigns for Egyptian tourism, in addition to asking the Minister of Civil Aviation to decrease take off and landing fees at airports used for tourism. Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou, stated in his meeting with the company directors for British companies Thomas Cook and Discover Egypt that his Ministry would help support marketing campaigns for foreign organisations.
Zaazou previously stated that the Ministry seeks to attract 13.8 million tourists by the end of the current year, saying however that this goal has become increasingly difficult to achieve since the removal of former President Mohamed Morsi.
Tourist occupancy rates in the Red Sea have decreased 20%, in addition to 25% in South Sinai. Occupancy rates in Cairo have not exceeded 15%, while those in Aswan and Luxor have dropped to 5%.
Translated from Al Borsa newspaper
