Nora Ali: German arrivals expected to rise 15% this year compared with 2018
Tourism Promotion Authority: New system for joint campaigns with tour operators to be approved next May
By Akram Medhat
The annual conference of German company DER Touristik, held in Hurghada over two days, has concluded, announcing the group's expansion in hotel management in Egypt and a move into sports tourism. It also forecast that cultural tourism in Luxor and Aswan will return to its former levels and that demand for Egypt will increase, particularly from Eastern European countries, while arrivals from the German market are expected to rise by 15% this year.
For his part, Eng. Ahmed Youssef, head of the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority, said the authority is close to completing its review of the criteria for joint campaigns with tour operators abroad, which will be approved by the authority's board of directors next May after consultation with the Minister of Tourism. He explained that the joint campaigns had been halted in the past period in order to reconsider the system's criteria and set new rules that achieve the best return on investment at the lowest cost.
Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Youssef added that he will hold a meeting with DER Touristik's executive directors to discuss areas of cooperation to increase tourist flows from the German market, noting that the meeting will discuss joint promotional campaigns and hear their views in order to present them to Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Tourism.
In a related context, Sören Hartmann, CEO of the German DER Touristik group, stressed that there is strong demand for Egypt from the German market and a number of other markets, confirming the Egyptian destination's strong return to the global tourism map. He explained that bookings from Eastern European countries have risen thanks to the attractive prices and good service offered by Egyptian hotels and resorts.
Hartmann said the events and unrest in the French capital, Paris, caused by the yellow vest protests, and Britain's exit from the European Union have had a major impact on travel in Europe. He expected calm to return to Northern European countries soon, which will be directly reflected in demand for visits to Middle Eastern countries.
The DER Touristik CEO stressed that global tourism indicators confirm increasing growth in Asia, South America and a number of Arab countries, including Egypt, which confirms that tourism is a strong industry that will flourish in the coming years.
He expected cultural tourism in Egypt to return to its former levels in Luxor and Aswan, given the stability the country is witnessing, noting that Egypt has succeeded in securing its share of beach tourism amid fierce competition from other countries such as Greece and Turkey.
Nora Ali, head of Masters Travel Service, one of the German DER Touristik companies, said the company's investment plan includes expanding into the management of a number of hotels on the Red Sea and expanding into sports tourism by adding two new hotels for this activity. She pointed to a significant increase in bookings, which bodes well for a good tourist season, especially during the summer.
She said the conference's recommendations included expanding the use of information technology and introducing new applications to increase sales in the 26 countries where the company has branches, including Egypt, in addition to increasing online marketing tools to make it easier to search for tourist information on the various destinations.
She expected the increase from the German market to Egypt to reach 15% this year compared with 2018, with German tourism leading arrivals to Egypt for the fourth year in a row.
