The Minister of Tourism participates as a keynote speaker in the annual conference for the Middle East and North Africa
Ahmed Issa, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, participated as a keynote speaker in the 21st annual conference for the Middle East and North Africa, under the title “Paths to Prosperity: Vision, Values and Projects,” during the period from May 3 to 5 at the London Business School in the Kingdom.
The conference was attended by Egypt’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Ambassador Sherif Kamel, and an elite group of business leaders, diplomats and academics from all over the region, with the aim of enhancing cooperation and a deeper understanding of cultures and economic conditions, through Building bridges of knowledge, ideas, and opportunities between the Middle East and North Africa region and the global community, in addition to exploring the richness of culture and tourism in the region, the development of its economic conditions, and the vision and projects that work on entrepreneurship, while also focusing on the strength and success of sports.
The Minister gave a presentation, during which he reviewed the most prominent results achieved by the tourism industry in Egypt in light of the implementation of the national strategy for tourism development in it, noting that this strategy includes a set of general policies and plans to develop the industry in a way that contributes to achieving its goals with annual growth ranging from 25%-30% to reach 30 million tourists by 2028, explaining that the main axes of this strategy came to confront the most prominent challenges facing the tourism industry in Egypt and prevent it from reaching the goals of increasing the number of incoming tourism traffic.
He pointed out that these axes include increasing the number of airline seats coming to Egypt in cooperation with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, improving the tourism investment climate in Egypt and increasing the number of hotel rooms in it, in addition to working to improve the tourism experience in Egypt and raise The quality of tourism services provided.
Ahmed Issa pointed out that in light of the national strategy, the role of both the Ministry and the role of the private tourism sector in relation to the industry has been redefined and defined, as the Ministry is a regulator, supervisor and licenser of activities within the industry, in addition to… Its role in developing policies and plans regulating work within the industry, and its keenness to ensure the quality of all services provided to tourists and the application of all health, safety and security standards within the framework of improving the tourist experience in Egypt, and ensuring that tourists receive what they were promised of a distinguished tourist experience, which is considered one of the most important axes. The national strategy for tourism development in Egypt.
As for the role of the private tourism sector, it is the engine of this industry, and is considered an essential partner in achieving growth in the sector, and maximizing the role of civil action institutions, such as tourism chambers and unions, through new laws and legislation that regulate tourism work in Egypt, which Among them is the new hotel and tourism establishments law, and the law establishing tourism chambers and organizing a union for them.
During the session, the minister reviewed the main tourism products that the ministry is currently focusing on, and the Egyptian tourist destination enjoys a great competitive advantage in them, which represents about 55% of what the ministry is currently focusing on. It is preferred by the total number of tourists around the world, and about 800 million tourists travel for these products globally, pointing out that these products are cultural tourism, adventure tourism, beach tourism, and family tourism, in addition to tourists who are looking for an integrated tourism experience with multiple tourist experiences and styles, pointing out He called for continued work during this year to improve the supply side of the Egyptian tourist destination instead of focusing on stimulating demand for it.
He stressed the Ministry’s keenness to improve the tourism investment climate in Egypt and increase the number of hotel rooms in it, given that the number of rooms currently existing It represents a challenge for the industry to achieve its goals in the coming years, reviewing the hotel investment incentives that were announced during the last period and are being worked on in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, which will work to urge and encourage local and international investors to invest in tourism in Egypt, especially the hotel field.
He explained that these incentives aim to stimulate the rapid growth of hotel capacity in Egypt, and also stimulate investors who will participate in either completing the construction or operating these new hotel facilities quickly.
He also reviewed one of the initiatives of these incentives. Which provides 50 billion pounds for a period of 5 years, with an interest rate of 12%, allocated for building new rooms and acquiring closed rooms.
He also talked about the Ras El Hekma project, which will develop this city to be a new urban, economic, and tourist center west of the city of Alexandria on the northern coast. And the investments it will generate during its implementation.
It is worth noting that more than 40 prominent speakers participated in the conference, including ministers, CEOs, entrepreneurs, and project owners, as the conference attracted more than 800 participants from various leaders. Business, diplomats and academics, including Prince Turki bin Talal bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Asir Development Authority, Dr. Yassin Al-Mahdi, Minister of Knowledge Economy, Emerging Enterprises and Micro-enterprises in Algeria, Dr. Mohammed bin Daina, Minister of Oil and Environment in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and Ambassador Manar Debbas, Jordanian Ambassador to the United Kingdom. .
- For more: Elrisala website and for social follow us on Facebook
- Source of information and images “rosaelyoussef“
