Egypt’s Minister of Tourism, Rania Al-Mashat, called for matching Egypt with competing tourist destinations in terms of of the tax imposed on German tourists departing to these destinations, which is determined by the German government on geographical basis.
The minister’s request came during her meeting with the German Deputy Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism, and the chairperson of the Tourism Committee of the ruling party in Germany, and the chairperson of the German Bundestag Tourism Committee, in the presence of the Egyptian ambassador to Germany on the sidelines of the ITB Berlin activities that took place from 6 to 10 March.
During the meeting, the minister highlighted the depth of the relations between Egypt and Germany and the cooperation between the two countries in all fields. She pointed out that the German market comes at the head of tourist markets exporting tourism to Egypt, stressing that Egypt always welcomes German tourists.
“German tourists arriving to Egypt in June 2017 achieved standard rates which reached 148%, compared to 2016. While the number of German tourists to Egypt reached 90,000, who spent 781,000 tourist nights with an increase of 200%,” according to the State Information System data.
“In the first half of 2017, about 503,000 tourists arrived from Germany with an increase of 66% compared to the same period in 2016. They spent 5.1m tourist nights with an increase of 124%. Germany became at the top in tourist market of Egypt on European and international scales,” it continued.
For his part, the Chairperson of the Tourism Committee of the ruling party in Germany, Paul Lehriehder, stated that he will push the talkers in the German government regarding matching Egypt with the rest of the competing tourist destinations in terms of the tax imposed on the German tourists departing to Egypt.
He also praised the cooperation and political rapprochement between the two countries, stressing the support of the German government for the tourism sector in Egypt, especially for its importance in creating jobs.
