Easing visas to Egypt for Maghreb countries... and organizing events to boost tourist traffic from them
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE understand the security challenges and strongly support us in tourism
By Akram Medhat - Travel Yalla journalist
Hisham Zaazou, Minister of Tourism, stressed that the Arab market receives great and special attention as one of the main pillars of Egypt's tourism promotion plan in the coming period, given the strong tourism support Egypt has found amid the security challenges it faces. He said there is no image problem there because the market understands the situation, especially Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE and Bahrain, as well as Jordan and Lebanon, which represent an important market for Sharm El-Sheikh.
Zaazou noted, on the sidelines of the "Sharm El-Sheikh in Our Hearts" conference, that the Kuwaiti authorities had held discussions about halting the Sharm El-Sheikh flight route, "but I am seeking to persuade them to reconsider the matter," adding that there are also talks on operating a direct flight route from Bahrain.
On the other hand, Zaazou revealed that an upcoming meeting is scheduled with the security authorities to ease the granting of tourist visas to Egypt for the Maghreb countries and to relax the security restrictions applied to their citizens, facilitating inbound tourism from them.
He pointed to the organization of many events supporting the promotion plan in this market, most importantly a visit by the Egyptian ambassador to Morocco at the head of a large Moroccan media delegation, to be followed by a tourism event organized through Moroccan tourism companies and their partners in Egypt.
