(AFP Photo)
The Egyptian Travel Agents Association (ETAA) invested EGP 70m in the investment certificates of the New Suez Canal project that the government offered last September, according to an official in the association.
The official said that the project’s investment certificates are a profitable opportunity that achieves revenues for members.
The total amounts that the government collected after offering the certificates exceeded EGP 67bn over nine days, EGP 27bn of which were from outside the banking sector. According to the official, the expected revenues from investing in the certificates would be worth EGP 8m annually, covering the ETAA’s annual expenses. Moreover, they can be used as guarantee for a loan, when needed.
The revenues of the association’s invested money in investment funds amounted to EGP 8.6m by the end of last year, an increase of EGP 547,000 more than the previous year.
The current accounts, deposits, and the invested money in the banks’ funds amount to EGP 271m, EGP 130m of which were paid as a contribution to the plan of activating Egyptian tourism last year, and EGP 26m are for the dues related to pilgrimage trips.
The ETAA’s revenues were at EGP 232m last year, according to the official, compared to EGP 99m in 2010.
The revenues of the Pilgrimage Fund increased by EGP 2m through the last year, amounting to EGP 10m, compared to EGP 8m in 2013.
The ETAA is the major contributor to expenses of Egyptian Tourism Federation (ETF), with 33% out of its total expenses annually, according to the official.
He added that tourism companies number at 2,400, of which 2,000 companies work in religious tourism.
The ETAA was able to reduce letters of guarantee from EGP 200,000 to EGP 50,000 last year, where over 1,700 companies benefited from this facilitation, which was requested by the association from Ministry of Tourism.
The association hopes to increase its revenues during the current fiscal year (FY) 2014/2015 to about EGP 280m through increasing its income from pilgrims.
The number of pilgrims amounted to over 900,000 last year, according to the official, expecting the number to exceed one million during the current season.
