(AFP PHOTO / KHALED DESOUKI)
By Menna Zaki
The Ministry of Transportation Tuesday announced that 2,400 German tourists are to arrive to Red Sea ports in the coming period.
The General Authority for Tourism will facilitate flight and transportation procedures for the tourists, according to an official ministry statement.
The tourism sector has “completely collapsed” since the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak in 2011 because of political instability, said Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou. The ministry will be working on a plan to make “great changes” in management to improve the conditions.
Tourism is Egypt’s main source of income, Zaazou said, so he will be looking into legislative amendments to resolve problems. The ministry will soon be hiring a new staff that includes younger people in an effort to revive the sector.
In order to boost the flow of tourists , Zaazou signed an agreement this month with Indian travel agencies to bring one million tourists to Egypt by 2017.The Ministry will be cooperating with the Egyptian-Indian Friendship Association to facilitate flights from New Delhi to Cairo starting in May.
The number of Russian tourists visiting Egypt is expected to reach 3 million by the end of 2014, Zaazou previously announced in a tourism conference in Moscow.
