Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly today held a meeting to follow up on efforts to boost the tourism sector, attended by Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathy; Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities Eng. Randa El Menshawy; Eng. Mostafa Abdel Wahab, Head of the Tourism Development Authority; Mohamed Amer, Head of the Central Department for Hotel Establishments Inspection; Dr. Ahmed Nabil, Assistant Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Aviation and Follow-up; and Dr. Sherif Gamal, Secretary-General of the Tourism and Antiquities Support Fund.
At the start of the meeting, the prime minister pointed to the great attention tourism development receives from the various relevant authorities, as tourism is one of the most important economic activities, helping to create more jobs and generate hard currency, as well as many other economic, developmental and social returns.
The prime minister noted that the Egyptian state has made extensive efforts and approved many facilities and incentives to support the tourism sector, a promising sector, to give it a push and make the most of its potential and assets, adding that the state is also working to increase investment in the sector, helping to increase hotel rooms and achieve the required development.
The prime minister stressed his constant keenness to hold many meetings with tourism investors to listen to their views and proposals, as well as their complaints and requests, as the state seeks to achieve the targets set for this promising sector.
The meeting discussed and reviewed a number of tourism investors' demands raised previously during the prime minister's meetings with them, especially those related to attracting various international airlines and linking new airports with the different transport networks, as well as providing more facilities and incentives for a number of tourist destinations.
In this context, the prime minister reaffirmed that more facilities and incentives will continue to be provided to investors in this promising sector, to attract more tourist traffic to Egypt's many tourist destinations and achieve the targets set through the growth of tourism as one of the most important sources of national income.
For his part, the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities reviewed the latest rates and indicators of Egyptian tourism in the recent period, pointing to the ministry's efforts to support and strengthen the role of tourism as one of the most important economic activities.
During the meeting, the Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities explained the procedures of the Tourism Development Authority and the current process for allocating land for tourism projects and obtaining approvals.
The minister explained that the Tourism Development Authority acts as a one-stop shop for investors to complete all the procedures and coordination needed to start their tourism project, noting that once a project begins, the authority follows up on the construction work on an ongoing basis.
The housing minister noted that the Tourism Development Authority will begin coordinating with consultants in this period to plan a number of new tourist zones in North Sinai governorate and on the Red Sea coast, as the authority oversees distinctive areas that will be developed for tourism to make the most of their assets and potential, according to the official Facebook page of Egypt's Cabinet.
