CAIRO — Tourism in Egypt is progressing very well, said Egyptian Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou at a press conference with Gulf journalists held in early October. Zaazou said that the increase in the number of tourists visiting the country is on account of the stability that the country is presently experiencing. Prior to the revolution, tourism was one of Egypt's main economies. However, following the instability that the country experienced, the tourism industry slowed down. Now, the country's Ministry of Tourism is working hard to bring Egypt's tourism to the level it was before the revolution. "I'm optimistic," said Zaazou at the press conference held at the Ministry of Tourism in Cairo. He added that security is an important part of the ministry's plans to increase the number of tourists visiting the country and that a short term plan has been developed to see more tourists in Egypt. Zaazou said the Ministry of Tourism seeks to ensure 20 million people come to Egypt. "We know that it's a challenge for us," he said, while highlighting the strong relations between Egypt and other Middle East countries, especially Gulf countries, and the support that they receive from them to encourage tourism. "As part of our short term plan, we are depending on two main issues: accessibility and proximity. We want to reach out to the new generation and the youth who usually depend on technology and social media to communicate. Proximity involves relying on neighboring countries such as those in the Gulf and Europe," he said. He added that tourists from many countries such as Italy, Spain, France and Russia visit Egypt. He also touched on a tourism campaign that the ministry launched in 2012, adding that the ministry will work with the media to restart this campaign. Zaazou also said he was not expecting to be appointed Minister of Tourism in the new government. "It was a surprise for me to be selected again as Minister of Tourism in the new government. I didn't expect it and no one else did also," he said. The number of foreign tourists who visited Egypt in the first seven months of 2015 saw an increase compared to the same period in 2014, according to statistics issued by the Ministry of Tourism. The number of tourists from the Middle East increased by 18.7 percent in the earlier seven months of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014. The statistics show that the number of Emirati visitors increased by 65.5 percent for the same period. They also show that Saudis were Egypt's number one visitors this year, and formed 95.5 percent of tourists in July 2015 compared to 53.1 percent in July 2014.
