(TAN): Egypt’s tourism revenues have gone up to USD 12.5 million in financial year 2018-19, media reports said.
The country’s tourism minister Rania Al-Mashat said it was the highest revenues from the sector in Egypt’s history.
She added at the New Economy Forum recently held in China that the growth was made possible by the introduction of new structural reforms as part of the Egypt Tourism Reform Programme (E-TRP). The structural reforms include new and stricter standards for classification of hotels, the tourism minister said. Promotion and marketing campaigns, as well as reaching out to international institutions Egypt also contributed to the growth, according to the minister.
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The ETRP, that was launched in November 2018, aimed to employ structural reforms to improve the tourism sector in terms of competitiveness and make it at par with international standards.
Tourism, one of Egypt’s most important sources of foreign currency and job opportunities, constitute 15% of the North African nation’s economy. Although the industry was affected following attacks that targeted tourists in 2015, tourism is getting back to normal with authorities applying new measures to promote travel in the country.
Al-Mashat said that Egypt will reach the peak of 2010 so far tourist numbers are concerned.
The country is designing its tourism policy based on what travellers seek, some of them being diversity of experiences, and being part of the local community. Instead of sticking with cultural heritage or sun and sea, packages will include adventure tourism such as the Red Sea Mountain Trail.
Egypt’s tourism minister also said tourism is a crucial sector not just for Egypt but also for the world, contributing 10% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product.
