By Akram Medhat
Dr. Adel El-Masry, head of the Domestic Tourism Sector at the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority, representing the Ministry of Tourism, took part in the fifth session of the Egyptian-Armenian Joint Committee in the city of Yerevan on September 29 and 30, chaired on the Egyptian side by Dr. Sahar Nasr, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation, and on the Armenian side by the Minister of Territorial Administration and Development.
On the sidelines of the meetings of the Egyptian-Armenian Business and Investment Forum, Adel El-Masry discussed the tourism file as part of the authority's plan to open new markets. Cooperation between the two countries was discussed in exchanging tourism information, participating in tourism fairs and organizing familiarization trips for both tour operators and journalists, and it was proposed to add a special clause allowing training programs to be held in the fields in which each side excels, as well as crisis management.
El-Masry reviewed with major tour operators, investors in the tourism field and various media the tourist traffic statistics and the plan to promote the Egyptian destination, as well as the diversity of tourism products, especially in light of the growth in tourist arrivals from the Armenian market, particularly to Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada, with two weekly flights, pointing to the new promotional tools the authority is currently using.
El-Masry also held a number of professional meetings with new tour operators who wish to include Egypt in their sales catalogs, as well as some investors in charter flights, in addition to agreeing to organize a number of events between the two countries.
According to tourism statistics obtained exclusively by "Travel Yalla News", Armenian tourist arrivals reached 11,000 tourists from January to August 2017, up 337% compared with the same period last year, and they spent 102,000 tourist nights, an increase of 1,790%.
