An advertising campaign launching next week will unveil the "Egypt in Our Hearts" programs for the winter
Major General Ahmed Hamdy, deputy head of the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority, revealed in exclusive statements to Travel Yalla the authority's plan for the coming winter season to boost domestic tourism. It intends to launch the "Egypt in Our Hearts" initiative on November 1, with a promotional advertising campaign for it to be launched next week. The initiative will run until April 30, 2016 and will focus on the cities of Luxor and Aswan, in a different style from the previous initiative, he said, stressing that it will be distinctive and more attractive.
Hamdy said the initiative in its new form is receiving greater support from the Ministry of Tourism, and the minister decided not to set a dedicated support budget, as happened before, when a specific number of programs was made available for a set period.
He noted that this phase will see the addition of various travel options, through the addition of the sleeper train and the new "VIP" class alongside the current first class, in addition to EgyptAir providing more seats on its daily flights to Luxor and Aswan for the initiative, bringing the total to 150 seats. He also noted that floating and fixed hotels are taking part in the initiative at good prices.
He added that the coming initiative will also include the cities of Taba and Nuweiba, as well as one-day trips, pointing out that its prices will not see a noticeable increase compared with the previous initiative.
Attractive Prices
The deputy head of the Tourism Promotion Authority explained that program prices will not differ much from the previous initiative, as the increase will not exceed 100 pounds. He gave the example that a first-class train trip for a 5-day/4-night program staying on a "Nile Cruise" floating hotel will not exceed 700 pounds, while traveling by air will cost 1,200 or 1,300 pounds.
He revealed that support for the trips this time, particularly to Luxor and Aswan, amounts to 700 pounds per package, covering transport, accommodation, transfers and visits to archaeological sites. This is done by calculating the total cost of each program and supporting it with 700 pounds paid to the companies, without paying a specific amount for any single component of the system.
Overcoming the Shortcomings of Previous Initiatives
Responding to the criticism and problems the initiative faced in its previous phases, Hamdy stressed that the most prominent criticism concerned dealing exclusively with two companies, EgyptAir Tourism "Karnak" and Misr Travel. This has been addressed in the coming initiative by contacting the coalition of tourism companies and coordinating with the Chamber of Tourism Companies to send a list of the companies wishing to take part in the initiative. The names of 24 companies were sent, and the authority asked that they be represented by a single company acting as a large umbrella for them in dealing with the authority.
As for seat availability on aircraft, the matter was discussed with EgyptAir, and a contract is expected to be signed with a private airline for support if more seats are needed.
On another note, Hamdy explained that the previous initiative did not achieve its targeted success because of the extremely high temperatures in July and August, as well as its coinciding with the month of Ramadan. It ran from April 30 to the end of June and was then extended to September 30, although it achieved acceptable success in trips to Taba and Nuweiba.
