EW DELHI: Last year Egypt was rocked by demonstrations. And this year too, protests have taken place in Cairo's famous Tahrir Square. Nonetheless, Khaled El Bakly, ambassador of Egypt to India, is confident of getting one million Indian tourists in recent future.
"We are working very hard towards that goal. One million tourists translate into one billion dollars for us and we are willing to share our experience so that India too benefits in its inbound tourism. To attain the number, we will offer different Indian cuisines in all hotels, English-speaking tour leaders and other facilities. We are expanding our promotional campaign in India," said Bakly. He even hinted at a joint collaboration of an Indo-Egypt film recognizing the popularity of Indian film industry.
Egypt has also launched its new promotional campaign for the year 2012 promoting the country as one of the most preferred MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) destinations.
Bakly said that India has around 60% young population just like Egypt. "With our new campaign which is very colourful and youthful, we aim to address that population." Attractions for an Egyptian holiday will now also include the Nile cruise from Cairo to Aswan. The cruise was not operational for the last six years. "Tourists will be able to see old Egypt along the Nile with onboard entertainment and different cuisines," said Bakly.
Commenting on the close Indo-Egypt ties, he maintained that both countries have been interacting with each other for over a thousand years and have close cultural, literary, political and economic relations. "If an Indian goes on the street in Egypt, he's mistaken for an Egyptian. And if I myself go to old Delhi, I'm taken as an Indian. That's how close India and Egypt have been. When we discuss tourism, we see it as an exchange in the progress of the two countries, building relations and not just limited to enjoyment. Indian tourism market is a growing one and Egypt is one of the world's top tourist destinations. In its high boom we've had close to 15 million tourists visit Egypt," said Bakly. Despite the turmoil, 9 million tourists visited the country last year. Overall, there was a drop of 20-25 % tourists roughly amounting to four billion dollars. Tourism amounts to 11 % of Egypt's national income.
Bakly pointed out that no tourist was hurt during the political upheaval and maintains that Egyptians understands that tourism is part of their national income and national industry. "We have almost 35 businesses related to the industry including hospitality, food, taxi drivers, tour guides, airports, seaports etc. Having said that our classical tourism belt which stretches from Aswan to the Mediterranean and the Red Sea side was not affected at all," said Bakly. He was speaking at the 19th edition of SATTE, India's leading travel and tourism event.
"We are working very hard towards that goal. One million tourists translate into one billion dollars for us and we are willing to share our experience so that India too benefits in its inbound tourism. To attain the number, we will offer different Indian cuisines in all hotels, English-speaking tour leaders and other facilities. We are expanding our promotional campaign in India," said Bakly. He even hinted at a joint collaboration of an Indo-Egypt film recognizing the popularity of Indian film industry.
Egypt has also launched its new promotional campaign for the year 2012 promoting the country as one of the most preferred MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) destinations.
Bakly said that India has around 60% young population just like Egypt. "With our new campaign which is very colourful and youthful, we aim to address that population." Attractions for an Egyptian holiday will now also include the Nile cruise from Cairo to Aswan. The cruise was not operational for the last six years. "Tourists will be able to see old Egypt along the Nile with onboard entertainment and different cuisines," said Bakly.
Commenting on the close Indo-Egypt ties, he maintained that both countries have been interacting with each other for over a thousand years and have close cultural, literary, political and economic relations. "If an Indian goes on the street in Egypt, he's mistaken for an Egyptian. And if I myself go to old Delhi, I'm taken as an Indian. That's how close India and Egypt have been. When we discuss tourism, we see it as an exchange in the progress of the two countries, building relations and not just limited to enjoyment. Indian tourism market is a growing one and Egypt is one of the world's top tourist destinations. In its high boom we've had close to 15 million tourists visit Egypt," said Bakly. Despite the turmoil, 9 million tourists visited the country last year. Overall, there was a drop of 20-25 % tourists roughly amounting to four billion dollars. Tourism amounts to 11 % of Egypt's national income.
Bakly pointed out that no tourist was hurt during the political upheaval and maintains that Egyptians understands that tourism is part of their national income and national industry. "We have almost 35 businesses related to the industry including hospitality, food, taxi drivers, tour guides, airports, seaports etc. Having said that our classical tourism belt which stretches from Aswan to the Mediterranean and the Red Sea side was not affected at all," said Bakly. He was speaking at the 19th edition of SATTE, India's leading travel and tourism event.
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