Sherif Fathy, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, met with Shaikha Al Nowais, Secretary-General-elect of UN Tourism, to discuss a number of tourism topics of mutual interest and explore ways to strengthen cooperation between the ministry and the organization in the coming period. The meeting took place during his current official visit to the Belgian capital, Brussels, to take part in the annual meeting of the World Tourism Forum 2025, held on October 20 and 21 this month and organized by the World Tourism Forum Institute.
He congratulated Shaikha Al Nowais on her election as Secretary-General of UN Tourism, succeeding the current Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili, affirming Egypt's full support for her during the organization's upcoming General Assembly meeting, scheduled to be held in Riyadh from November 7 to 11.
For her part, Shaikha Al Nowais also congratulated the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities on Egypt winning membership of the organization's Executive Council for its term running from 2025 to 2029, once the General Assembly, at its upcoming session in Riyadh, adopts the recommendation of the 51st meeting of the Regional Commission for the Middle East, held in Qatar last February, to name Egypt and the UAE to represent the region on the council for the 2025–2029 period.
The meeting also touched on UN Tourism's "Best Tourism Villages" initiative, and opportunities for joint cooperation between the ministry and the organization to support and develop rural tourism were discussed.
During the meeting, the minister reviewed the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities' current strategy, which focuses on highlighting the diversity of tourism patterns and products that the Egyptian destination boasts, qualifying Egypt to be the world's leading tourist destination in terms of the diversity of these patterns and products, which are unmatched anywhere in the world, under the slogan "Egypt.. Unmatched Diversity". He noted that the ministry is working to develop various tourism products, such as the Holy Family route in Egypt, the Historic Cairo development project and the city of Saint Catherine, alongside efforts to raise the efficiency of services offered to visitors at museums and archaeological sites, foremost among them the Giza Pyramids area. He also reviewed the positive performance of Egypt's tourism sector during 2024 and the beginning of 2025.
The meeting was attended by Eng. Ahmed Youssef, Assistant Minister for Strategic Departments and Acting CEO of the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority; Rana Gohar, Advisor to the Minister for Communication and External Relations and General Supervisor of the ministry's General Department of International Relations and Agreements; and Mohamed Farag, Financial and Administrative Supervisor of the tourist office in Berlin, Germany, and the countries under its supervision.
