The Tourism Activation Authority (TAA), the Ministry of Tourism’s marketing arm, plans to organise a tourism week for Egypt in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, according to a Ministry of Tourism official.
The official said the aim of the tourism week is to boost cooperation between Egyptian and Ethiopian companies, especially in light of the growing economy of Addis Ababa.
He also said that the Egyptian Travel Agents’ Association (ETAA) will cover the accommodation costs for the companies wishing to participate in the event. The price is $155 for three days, on condition that the company covers 50% of the flight ticket. EgyptAir will, as a result, provide a discount for the remaining 50%.
Last year, tourist flow to Egypt amounted to 9.9 million tourists. The ministry targets an increase to 12.5 million tourists by the end of this year.
According to the official, Ethiopia is expanding its tourism infrastructure, whether hotels or airports, in light of its economic growth. It thus makes it an important East African country, important for Egypt to strengthen its relations with it. This is especially true in light of the deterioration in relations between the two countries following the building of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the official said.
Ethiopia is currently working on increasing its fleet of aeroplanes by over 60%, according to Hassan Aziz, Chairman of the Egyptian Federation for Private Aviation. He added that the increase in the fleet will create great growth in tourism. Ethiopian planes are expected to reach new destinations, especially in Europe, which is the main tourism market globally.
The official added: “In the past 10 years, we have been considering marketing for tourist programmes between Egypt and the Nile basin countries, including Ethiopia. However, the proposal was not implemented because of the situation in some African countries, as well as the political turmoil in Egypt for the past four years.”
The mutual tourism programme aims to allow tourists to visit historical areas in Egypt and other Nile Basin countries, during 10 days of the programme. The official said he expects that the programme will be a great leap in cooperation with the Nile Basin countries.
