Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa met with Switzerland’s Ambassador in Cairo Yvonne Baumann on Tuesday to discuss ways to expand the horizons of cooperation between the two countries in the field of tourism and antiquities.
At the beginning of the meeting, the minister welcomed the ambassador, stressing the strong relations between Egypt and Switzerland in many fields.
They then discussed the indicators of the incoming tourist movement to Egypt from Switzerland and ways to boost inbound tourism in light of the increased Swiss demand for Egyptian beach and archaeological destinations.
Furthermore, the meeting tackled enhancing cooperation in the field of hospitality and hotel building, capacity-building and trained cadres for workers in the tourism sector, in addition to cooperation in the field of developing archaeological sites and raising the efficiency of tourism services provided in them, making them more sustainable in order to improve the experience of visitors during the visit.
The meeting also dealt with cooperation in archaeological research within the framework of the Swiss initiative to study Egyptian mummies, especially in light of the great interest in this field by specialised Swiss scientists.
For her part, Baumann affirmed her country’s commitment to supporting Egyptian efforts in the field of recovering smuggled antiquities and cultural property and the products of surreptitious excavations.
