Tourism officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina express their desire to prepare tour programs for the Egyptian destination
Sherif Fathy, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, began his current official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina with a meeting with Bosnia and Herzegovina's Foreign Minister Elmedin Konaković, as part of efforts to strengthen frameworks of joint cooperation between the two countries. This is the first official visit by an Egyptian minister to the capital, Sarajevo, in 15 years.
The meeting was attended by Ambassador Walid Haggag, Egypt's ambassador in Sarajevo, Eng. Ahmed Youssef, Assistant Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Strategic Departments and Acting Head of the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority, and a number of senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
During the meeting, Sherif Fathy affirmed the Egyptian state's pride in the distinguished cooperation relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina and its keenness to develop and elevate them in various fields, particularly tourism and antiquities. He reviewed the positive performance of the Egyptian tourism sector in 2024, when Egypt received 15.8 million tourists, an increase of 6% compared with 2023, and outlined Egypt's efforts to attract investment, particularly in hotels, to increase capacity in line with this growth in tourist numbers, pointing to the official opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, to be held on the coming November 1.
For his part, Bosnia and Herzegovina's Foreign Minister Elmedin Konaković praised the long-standing and distinguished friendly relations between Egypt and Bosnia and Herzegovina, expressing his appreciation for Egypt's supportive positions toward his country in various fields, and stressing the importance of the tourism sector to the Bosnian economy and his country's efforts to develop this vital sector, as Bosnia and Herzegovina has received unprecedented numbers of tourists this year. He also mentioned his previous visit to Egypt as a tourist 10 years ago and his wish to visit it again.
During the meeting, the two ministers expressed their desire and readiness to push cooperation to broader horizons, including boosting joint tourism investments and enhancing two-way tourism between the two countries by facilitating visa procedures and increasing the number of direct flights between them, and promoting Egypt as a tourist destination in the Bosnian market and Bosnia as a tourist destination in the Egyptian market.
The two ministers also discussed the possibility of cooperation in the field of antiquities by drawing on Egyptian expertise in antiquities restoration and museum management, given Egypt's extensive experience in this field.
Tourism Meetings in Bosnia and Herzegovina
In a related context, Sherif Fathy, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, held an expanded professional meeting with senior officials of the tourism sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including representatives of tourism entities and cities, heads and representatives of tourism companies, hotels and airports, and tourism promotion officials, to discuss opportunities for joint cooperation and mechanisms for developing inbound tourism from Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Egyptian destination. The meeting was attended by Ambassador Walid Haggag, Egypt's ambassador in Sarajevo, and Eng. Ahmed Youssef, Assistant Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Strategic Departments and Acting Head of the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority.
Sherif Fathy opened the meeting by stressing the importance of direct communication with industry partners among tour operators, as a pivotal element in supporting and boosting inbound tourism to Egypt, noting that the private tourism sector is the engine of growth in this industry, while the government focuses on preparing infrastructure, improving the investment climate, organizing promotional campaigns in targeted international markets, and ensuring the quality of services provided, enhancing the global competitiveness of the Egyptian destination.
The minister reviewed the main features of the ministry's strategy, which focuses on highlighting Egypt as the world's leading tourist destination thanks to the diversity of its products, which include cultural, beach and spiritual tourism, in addition to Nile tourism, adventure tourism and others.
He stressed that expanding hotel capacity is currently one of the ministry's priorities, with the aim of doubling the number of hotel rooms by 2030. He also explained that 18,000 new rooms are expected to be added this year, of which 6,000 rooms have been added to capacity since the beginning of this year, in addition to regulating the "Holiday Homes" activity to ensure service quality and the safety and comfort of tourists.
The minister also touched on Egypt's hosting of many international events and concerts that attract various segments of tourists in a number of tourist cities, including New Alamein, Sharm El-Sheikh and the Giza Pyramids area. He also pointed to the possibility of organizing familiarization trips for representatives of tourism companies and influencers from Egypt and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as organizing tourism roadshows and workshops to strengthen tourism cooperation between the two sides.
For his part, Ambassador Walid Haggag stressed the importance of this visit, the first by an Egyptian minister to Sarajevo in 15 years, which he considered an important step toward strengthening bilateral relations.
Eng. Ahmed Youssef also gave a presentation on Egypt's main tourism assets and the flight incentive program launched by the ministry to support tourist traffic, affirming the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority's readiness to cooperate in organizing workshops in Egypt to bring together tour operators and representatives of tourism companies from the two countries.
Attendees expressed their desire to prepare tour programs for the Egyptian destination to increase inbound tourism from Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the end of the meeting, the minister listened to the attendees' proposals and views, and thanked Egypt's ambassador in Sarajevo for organizing the meeting, and Bosnia and Herzegovina's ambassador in Cairo for his efforts to strengthen relations between the two countries and for making a point of attending this important meeting.
