Minister of Tourism, Rania Al-Mashat, stated that the tourism sector serves over 70 industries in Egypt, noting that each direct employment opportunity provided by the sector is met by four indirect job potentials, thus the sector provides 280 different job probabilities.
“The tourism sector indicators witnessed a great improvement starting from the last year,” the minister said during her participation in a discussion sessions held during the meeting held by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in cooperation with the US-Egypt Business Council (USEBC).
Earlier, Al-Mashat announced that the number of tourists visiting Egypt has jumped by 30% during the first quarter (Q1) of 2018, compared to last year.
She added that tourism now represents 15% of the total income source of the country’s national economy.
During the discussion session, Al-Mashat pointed out that the winter season is very promising, stressing that the improvement of the tourism sector should not be limited to just increasing the number of tourists, but should also include improving the efficiency of services provided to all tourists, in order to achieve sustainable development in the sector.
The minister also reviewed the ministry’s strategy for structural reform, which aims to maximise the sector’s competitiveness.
The structural reform is not limited to the ministry, but includes a structural reform of the entire sector, indicated Al-Mashat.
“It is known that any structural reform includes many axes, including legislative reforms, which will be done by the ministry in cooperation with partners from the private sector, after the completion of the elections of the tourist chambers and its union,” Al-Mashat explained, further asserting in conclusion, “in addition to raising the quality of services provided to tourists, through improving the efficiency and rehabilitating the human element, and also through paying more attention to the training, as well as raising the efficiency of tourism hotels, in accordance with international standards.”
