By Akram Medhat
Dr. Atef Abdel Latif, head of the Mosafroon Tourism Association and a member of the Marsa Alam and South Sinai investors' associations, affirmed that the tourism sector is awaiting a strong take-off following positive indicators that may turn into confirmation of the return of Russian tourism to Egypt starting in October, as the summer season winds down in Turkey and Russian trips are directed to the Egyptian market during the winter. He also pointed to the approach of WTM London in November, in which 184 countries take part and where Egyptian tourism companies will have great opportunities to attract a large number of tourists.
Abdel Latif said in press statements that full preparations must be made to receive tourism again after a halt of about two years, by preparing, maintaining and properly upgrading hotels, tourist facilities and resorts, so that we do not face problems related to tourists' dissatisfaction with poor service at hotels.
He explained that the only way out to provide financing is to activate the Central Bank initiative to support and renovate tourist resorts, floating hotels and tourist transport fleets by making EGP 5 billion available at an interest rate of 10% for a maximum of 10 years, according to the client's credit study, which the Central Bank announced last February but which has not yet come into effect.
He added that the Central Bank has the right to verify the initiative's guiding criteria, namely that the main purpose of the financing is to carry out the necessary replacement and renovation of fixed and floating hotels and tourist transport fleets, while waiving the "committed clients" clause, because the past period has caused 90% of hotels to default, to the extent that about 140 hotels in the Red Sea area have stopped operating and closed, either due to the absence of tourism or to carry out the necessary maintenance work.
He pointed to the need for coordination between the Ministry of Tourism and training centers at schools and universities to provide trained labor for the tourism sector, especially after trained workers left to work abroad or in other professions over the past seven years.
The South Sinai investors' member said that the current climate is cause for optimism, given statements by Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov that Russian airlines will be able to resume flights to Egypt within a month and that the ban on flights between the two countries will be lifted, which was also confirmed by the meeting between the Egyptian and Russian presidents. This means the return of Russian tourism, which had ranked first on the list of tourism markets, coinciding with the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority launching a huge promotional campaign in the Russian market as soon as the ban is lifted.
He continued: "Also, the return of the Italian ambassador to Egypt and overcoming the 'Regeni' crisis confirm that Italian tourist flows will soon return strongly to the Egyptian destination in the coming period, along with Minister of Tourism Yehia Rashed's announcement of the launch of a strong promotional campaign in the Italian market starting in November."
