The Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority is currently hosting the annual conference of the German association BEST-REISEN, one of the largest travel agency associations in Germany, in the city of Hurghada in the Red Sea Governorate. The conference is one of the largest tourism events hosted by Egypt.
This year's conference is being held under the sponsorship of Dertour Group and the Aldiana and Sentido brands, and includes a programme of events featuring presentations and charity competitions in support of DER Touristik Foundation projects. The conference is also a distinguished platform for exchanging views on the future of German tourism and Egypt's growing role as a major destination for this market.
Eng. Ahmed Youssef, CEO of the Tourism Promotion Authority, stressed that Egypt's hosting of this event complements a series of important international events held in Hurghada during November this month, including the annual conference of the RTK association and the annual conference of German tour operator Anex Tour, which was held in Egypt for the first time.
He explained that these events reflect the strength and confidence of the German market in the Egyptian destination and open broader horizons for cooperation with industry partners in one of Egypt's most important tourism markets, contributing to increased inbound traffic in the coming years. They also consolidate Egypt's position as a distinguished destination for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) tourism.
He added that the conference is an opportunity to strengthen the partnership between Egypt and Germany and to showcase developments in Egypt's tourism sector, notably the Grand Egyptian Museum, which opened on 1 November this month and will be a prominent global addition to the cultural tourism map. The event also makes it possible to highlight the unique assets of the Egyptian destination, including the diversity of its tourism products, the quality of its hotel infrastructure and promising investment opportunities.
This year's conference is attended by a select group of the most prominent leaders and influencers of the German tourism industry, including Ingo Burmester, CEO of Dertour Central Europe; Karl Bauer, CEO of the hotel division at DER Touristik; and Peter Gerber, CEO of Condor airline, along with a number of executives from the Aldiana and Sentido brands and representatives of German tourism organisations such as DRV, VUSR and BTW.
More than 560 leading figures from the German tourism industry are also taking part in the event, along with a large official and media presence and around 100 partners from major tourism companies, hotels and airlines, making it the largest tourism event in the history of the BEST-REISEN association.
It is worth noting that the German association BEST-REISEN includes more than 350 travel agencies out of nearly 700 members within the German tourism cooperation system.
