Sherif Fathy, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, chaired a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority, which reviewed the most prominent promotional efforts made by the ministry, represented by the authority, over the past period to promote Egypt as a tourist destination and highlight its diverse tourism types and products under the slogan "Egypt... Unmatched Diversity." The latest of these is the international campaign launched to promote yacht tourism in Egypt through a group of the world's most popular digital platforms, including Instagram, YouTube and the Google search engine, helping attract tourist segments interested in this luxury type of tourism, alongside a number of leading international magazines specializing in yacht tourism, the authority's participation in many exhibitions specializing in yacht tourism, and the organization of a number of promotional events for this product.
The minister affirmed that this is in line with the ministry's current strategy and vision, which aims for Egypt to be the world's top tourist destination in terms of the diversity of its tourism types and products, which are unparalleled in the world, stressing the ministry's keenness for the strategy's slogan, "Egypt... Unmatched Diversity," to reach all tourists in countries around the world.
Fathy explained that the ministry is currently working on developing the various tourism products in Egypt, as these products have been categorized and an official has been appointed for each product to organize and follow up on its development mechanisms, identify the activities associated with each product and maximize the benefit from them.
The meeting reviewed the latest developments of the current aviation incentive program launched by the ministry, which will remain in effect until October this year. The program's key indicators and results for the period from January to April this year were presented, showing 33% growth in the number of flights, passengers and airline seats compared with the same period last year, which reflects the program's effectiveness in supporting inbound air traffic to Egypt.
He also spoke about the importance of achieving tourism economic security, which aims to effectively involve the local community in the tourism and antiquities sector, so that communities around tourist and archaeological sites benefit directly, enhancing the sector's long-term sustainability.
The meeting addressed the importance of cooperation and coordination between the authority, the Egyptian Tourism Federation and the relevant tourist chambers on the familiarization trips (Fam Trips) organized to Egypt for industry partners among tour operators and airlines.
Some mechanisms for implementing promotional and marketing services for tourism in Egypt were also discussed, including launching more international campaigns and making greater use of social media platforms and artificial intelligence technologies.
The minister noted that one of the promotional campaigns recently launched in a number of European markets using artificial intelligence technology achieved remarkable success, reaching 100 million users on its first day in 8 countries among the source markets for tourism to Egypt, with a large share of views exceeding thirty seconds.
The board was briefed on the latest status of the international tourism exhibitions plan for fiscal year 2024-2025, as well as what has been approved in the authority's draft budget for fiscal year 2025-2026. The tourism promotion plan for fiscal year 2025-2026 was also approved.
The meeting also discussed a proposal to prepare an agenda of the various events and activities held in different tourist destinations in cooperation with the private sector, contributing to the integrated promotion of Egypt as a tourist destination and linking these events to promotional campaigns to ensure the maximum possible benefit from them at both the local and international levels.
