By Akram Medhat
Egypt is taking part, through a high-level delegation from the public and private tourism sectors, in WTM London (World Travel Market) from November 6 to 8.
The delegation is scheduled to begin its participation in the fair with a press conference today, attended by the Egyptian Ambassador in London, Nasser Kamel, and Amr El-Ezabi, the Egyptian tourism counselor in London. The conference will be covered by many international and British media outlets, and the latest developments in Egyptian tourism will be reviewed during it.
In this context, Hesham El-Demery, head of the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority, stressed the importance of Egypt's participation in WTM London, the world's second-largest tourism fair after ITB Berlin, which is also a main hub bringing together industry partners, including representatives of tour operators and airlines, as well as media professionals from around the world, noting that Egyptian tourism's presence at the fair this year is of special importance after the positive indicators for arrivals in the first nine months of 2017.
For her part, Dr. Adela Ragab, Deputy Minister of Tourism, explained that Egypt's participation in important international fairs and exhibitions is an important tool for promoting Egypt as a destination, by meeting industry partners from among tour operators and tourism decision-makers around the world.
This year Egypt is taking part in the fair with a 630-square-meter pavilion and a 75-square-meter upper floor, including 16 tour companies and 25 hotels, a stand for the Egyptian Tourism Federation, another for the Chamber of Tourism Companies, a stand for EgyptAir and one for the Red Sea Governorate.
According to tourism statistics obtained exclusively by Travel Yalla News, British tourism to Egypt has seen a relative increase compared with the stagnant year of 2016, but it remains subdued as the flight ban on Britons' top destination, Sharm El-Sheikh, continues. It ranked third in Europe and fourth worldwide, recording 226,000 tourist arrivals between January and September 2017, up 31%, who spent 2.5 million tourist nights, an increase of 88% over the same period last year.
Britons recorded 24,000 tourist arrivals in Egypt in September, up 47% from the same month of 2016, while tourist nights rose 152%, as they spent 379,000 nights.
