Egypt critiques influence of latest archaeological discoveries on inbound tourism

CAIRO – March 10, 2021: Egypt reviewed the impact of new archaeological discoveries on inbound tourism during its participation in the Berlin Tourist Exchange.

This happened during the participation of the Deputy Minister for Tourism and Antiques for Egyptian Tourism Affairs, Ghada Shalaby, in a dialogue session on Tuesday entitled “Destinations Management Forum and Thought Leaders” on the sidelines of the Berlin Tourism Exchange, which is expected to last until March 12th.

Shalaby stated that the Department of Tourism and Antiques aired a series of videos about these archaeological discoveries and the new museums that opened in 2020, as well as a series of virtual tours of some museums and archaeological sites on the department’s official pages got on the internet.

During the session, the Deputy Minister discussed the precautions and health controls used in tourist and hotel establishments, museums and archaeological sites to ensure safe travel to Egyptian tourist destinations.

She emphasized the close cooperation between the ministries of tourism and antiques, health and population and business partners from the private tourism sector in order to contain the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the Egyptian tourism sector.

Shalaby said the ministry issued a health protection certificate and requirement to obtain it for the operation of hotel and tourism facilities to ensure that all facilities comply with the application of preventive measures.

She noted the importance of providing the necessary support and keeping a trained workforce for this period to prepare for the resumption of travel and the return of tourism to its rates at the end of the pandemic, and the importance of moving on to tourist destinations in communicating with their major tourism exporting markets.

Mohamed Farag, director of the Central Agency for Germany, Switzerland and Austria at the Egyptian General Agency for Tourism Promotion, said that the participation of the ministry in this important annual tourism event as part of the ministry’s efforts to restore the movement of tourism from different countries around the world to Egypt come, especially from the German market.

Farag explained that during the exchange’s activities, professional meetings with tour operators, airlines and various tourism unions will be intensified to discuss developments in the tourism market, given the positive signs that most of the world’s countries are keen to encourage their citizens against the emerging coronavirus to vaccinate.

He noted that Egypt’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Khaled Al-Anani, will hold a series of professional meetings with tour operators to review the tourist and archaeological potential of the Egyptian destination.