(AFP Photo)
The Tourism Activation Authority (TAA) has started tapping into the potential of search engine advertising, whilst also creating a social media presence, to increase tourism to Egypt. The Ministry of Tourism signed a deal with Visa Inc. last May to market tourism services in the largest European markets.
The Ministry of Tourism hopes to attract between 2% to 4% of visitors annually via the Visa Inc. website over the next year.
Online marketing for tourism services saves money spent on reaching new segments of consumers of Egyptian tourism services.
Experts believe that online marketing forms a major opportunity for tourism for reaching out to major exporting markets.
Additionally, these new marketing patterns will be used to identify patterns of tourism coming into the country, allowing for policies to be adjusted accordingly. They will take into account competing markets and global conditions that will affect the influx of tourists.
The ministry has resorted to this new direction due to the growth of electronic marketing at the expense of traditional marketing. There is also a need to ration costs in the light of the financial crisis that Egypt is currently experiencing.
