Campaign coordinators: The idea relies on the active participation of Egyptians and foreigners with photos of their trips to tourist areas
Carried out by young staff of the Tourism Promotion Authority with the participation of 13 students from the Faculty of Tourism and Hotels
By Akram Medhat - Journalist at Travel Yalla
A group of young staff members at the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority have launched an initiative to bring life back to Egypt's tourist areas through the hashtag "#EgyptBloom", by visiting some of the most beautiful coastal tourist cities in South Sinai, namely Sharm El-Sheikh, Dahab and Nuweiba, as a first phase. The following phases are scheduled to cover all tourist areas of their various types, archaeological and desert.
The campaign relies on organizing recreational promotional visits, accompanied by a group of young people from the Faculty of Tourism and Hotels at Helwan University, 13 final-year students, to areas that attract Egyptians and foreigners, such as safari trips, boat trips and diving at one of the most beautiful islands in Sharm El-Sheikh, "Mohammed Island", and the "Blue Hole" area in Dahab.
The campaign's coordinators and supervisors are three young people newly appointed to the authority's International Tourism Sector: Karim Rashwan, Nermine Mostafa and Ahmed Talaat.
The hashtag name "#EgyptBloom" was chosen to portray Egypt as a flower blooming anew, in keeping with the literal meaning of the words, which in essence offer a fitting description of the state of Egyptian tourism, whose lights had nearly gone out and which had nearly lost its luster. The "#This is Egypt" campaign, launched by Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou at the beginning of last November, was merged into it because it carries the same idea and strongly supports it, according to Karim Rashwan, one of the campaign's coordinators, in exclusive statements to "Travel Yalla".
The Campaign Idea
Rashwan added that the campaign relies on the active participation of Egyptians and foreigners with photos of their trips to tourist areas, through the newest, most widespread and most influential tools among tourists, whether foreigners or Egyptians, to promote domestic tourism, namely creating pages on social media, on "Facebook", "Twitter" and "Instagram", and discovering an enjoyment that many may not have experienced, provided that this is done from inside Egypt instead of launching all promotional campaigns from abroad only, thereby giving more credibility among tourists.
He stressed that having a group of young people take charge of the campaign gives it a spirit of daring that may be more effective across tourists' different age groups.
Rashwan explained that choosing young people from the Faculty of Tourism and Hotels to carry out the campaign makes them keener to make it succeed and more loyal to the activity, because it represents their future job opportunities, noting that an official letter was sent to the Faculty of Tourism and Hotels at Helwan University to nominate outstanding students to take part in the campaign, and they were selected through personal interviews to form the current group.
Behind the Scenes of Preparing the Campaign
Rashwan said the idea had been in preparation for 3 weeks, with a full study covering the choice of areas, the organization of various tour programs, the implementation steps, the target audience and the time frame for gathering reactions that confirm its success locally and internationally, in addition to all the costs, as well as obtaining the approval and support of the Tourism Promotion Authority's leadership, in a way that does not conflict with the other international promotional campaigns it carries out using the same mechanism.
He pointed out that the matter was presented to "JWT", the international company that carries out the promotional campaign for Egyptian tourism in advertising and public relations, to find out whether this conflicts with the international advertising campaign, and the company gave its opinion that the idea strongly supports the international campaign.
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Implementation Mechanism and How It Will Be Promoted Locally and Internationally
The campaign relies on uploading as many photos as possible showing the beauty of the tourist areas and the activities carried out by the campaign team on social media, involving Egyptians and foreigners in some of their activities, and capturing different moments and situations in a way that conveys a lived experience and sends an indirect message to tourists encouraging them to travel to Egypt, revealing new places that have not received the promotion they deserve, and organizing promotional activities and adventures.
It also allows tourists who have visited Egypt, and Egyptians who frequent tourist cities, to upload photos that capture their trips and show the safety, security and unique beauty of the Egyptian tourist destination, so that the campaign becomes more effective and widespread and its results can be monitored quickly and successfully.
