PR No.: 16022

The meeting followed up on the official visit of Mr Rifai to Egypt last month, where he had the opportunity to meet President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Prime Minister Sherif Ismail to discuss the tourism situation in the country and the recovery plans being implemented. 

Meeting with Minister Zaazou in Berlin, the UNWTO Secretary-General commended the measures taken by Egypt to restore market confidence and expressed the full support of the Organization to this programme.

“The work of the Ministry and of Minister Zaazou in promoting the highest political support for the sector, enhancing tourism safety and security by successfully integrating the sector into risk and emergency management structures both at national and local levels, and the various marketing initiatives taken in key markets are the correct ways to restore confidence and accelerate the recovery of tourism in Egypt”, said Mr Rifai.

“We should never forget that Egypt’s tourism sector is one of the world’s most remarkable success stories. In the last decade, the number of visitors to Egypt practically tripled and so did the exports generated by international tourism. Despite current challenges Egypt is today, and will continue to be, a world-leading tourism destination, capturing one in every four international tourist arrivals to the Middle East”, said Mr Rifai.

Mr Rifai and Minister Zaazou also discussed the actions that the Ministry has swiftly taken to communicate with competent authorities and the public in source markets on safety and security issues, to unlock the support of airlines and tour operators, to incentivise demand, and to engage key players in Egypt in these concerted efforts. UNWTO experts have visited Egypt in recent months to support the Ministry in these areas. 

The meeting was also an occasion to further discuss the upcoming UNWTO City Tourism Summit being held later in 2016 in Cairo. 

“We are holding this important event in Cairo as a clear sign of confidence in Egypt, and we trust that it will be a great opportunity to showcase all the progress and initiatives that Egypt has been implementing to accelerate recovery”, added Mr Rifai.

 

Contact:

UNWTO Senior Media Officer: Ruth Gomez

Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60

UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme

Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218

 

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PR No.: 16015

Meeting with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail Mohamed, Secretary-General discussed measures to accelerate the recovery of tourism to Egypt and praised the support being given to the sector. Both representatives welcomed the actions undertaken by Egypt to promote the highest political support for the sector, regain the confidence of source markets, enhance tourism safety and security and successfully integrate the sector into risk and emergency management structures, both at national and local levels.

“Egypt has undertaken strong initiatives in terms of communications with the competent authorities and public opinion in source markets on safety and security issues, unlocking the support of airlines and tour operators, incentivising demand and engaging key players in Egypt in these concerted efforts. I trust these actions will herald results in restoring confidence and accelerating the recovery of tourism to Egypt”, said Mr. Rifai.

Mr Rifai also met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sameh Hassan Shoukry, to discuss the cooperation between the Ministries of Tourism and Foreign Affairs and UNWTO, including Egypt’s chairmanship of the UNWTO Executive Council and the forthcoming UNWTO City Tourism Summit taking place in Egypt later this year.

The future of tourism in Egypt

Opening Egypt´s Tourism 2016 Conference ‘Planning for Growth’, Mr Rifai recalled that there is a strong pent up demand for tourism to Egypt, from source markets, both within and outside the region.

“We should never forget that Egypt is one of the world’s most remarkable tourism success stories. Over the last decade, the number of visitors to Egypt practically tripled and so did the exports generated by international tourism. Egypt is, and will continue to be, despite all challenges, a leading tourism destination.” 

Tourism is a critical contributor to Egypt’s GDP, employment, foreign currency earnings and investment. Mr. Rifai called upon the international community to support Egypt’s tourism saying that “supporting the recovery of tourism to Egypt is supporting the future of Egypt and that of its people; supporting tourism to Egypt is promoting peace and stability”.

Useful links:

Photos of the visit

Contact:

UNWTO Media Officer: Rut Gómez Sobrino

Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60 

UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme

Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218 

 

The UNWTO Regional executive workshop in Qatar on eMarketing in Tourism, organized by the World Tourism Organization, its UNWTO.Themis Foundation and Qatar Tourism Authority, was closed on 15th December in Doha by Alvaro Moreno, UNWTO.Themis Foundation Workshop Coordinator, the facilitators of the course: Montserrat Peñarroya and prof. Dimitrios Buhalis and 40 officials from Qatar and MENA region.

This executive workshop, delivered by Montserrat Peñarrota and prof. Dimitrios Buhalis, aimed at providing the participants with knowledge, skills, tools and a forum for discussion and reflection on eMarketing in Tourism. With this objective, the international facilitators delivered presentations on key concepts and elements on concepts and processes on state-of-the-art approaches to assess the performance of their destination, evaluate eMarkets’ potential, and transform insights into actionable and targeted marketing tactics.

The UNWTO Regional Conference and Executive Training Workshop in Qatar on eMarketing in Tourism, organized by the World Tourism Organization, its UNWTO.Themis Foundation and Qatar Tourism Authority, was inaugurated on 13th December by Dr. Marla Haims, Policy and Planning Advisor, Qatar Tourism Authority, Omar Valdez, UNWTO.Themis Foundation Executive Director, and the facilitators of the course: Montserrat Peñarroya and prof. Dimitrios Buhalis, as well as  conference guest speakers - Miguel Gallego and Sumathi Ramanathan.

 

The objective of this workshop is to provide participants with knowledge, skills, tools and a forum for discussion about current key issues and practices in eMarketing strategy.

Participants are expected to gain better understanding on key concepts in eMarketing and its processes, apply tools and international best practices in the local contexts and oversee eMarketing tourism strategy development and implementation.

 

This event blends presentations with workshop activities: the former aim at promoting active learning through a calibrated mix of theory and practical examples, while the latter aim at actively involving participants in a collaborative process that simulates an eMarketing planning process for Qatar and MENA region.

The UNWTO executive training courses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Tourism Destination Management and Marketing, organized by the World Tourism Organization, its UNWTO.Themis Foundation and the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH), closed on 13th October. Mr. Abdullah Al- Suat‎ and Mr. Bader Al-Obaid from SCTH, and Mr. Omar Valdez from the UNWTO.Themis Foundation, brought to a close the initiative in Taif.  Also present at the ceremony were the Course Coordinator, Dr Edith Szivas, and the three facilitators, of the course: Dr. Adel Rady, Dr. Tamer Atef Aziz and Dr. Saleem Odeh.

This course -delivered in Abha and Taif- aimed at providing the participants with knowledge, skills, tools and a forum for discussion and reflection on Tourism Destination Management and Marketing applied to the Accommodation sector, the Tour Operators and Travel Agencies sector, and the Museums and Cultural Sector. With this objective, the international facilitators delivered presentations on key concepts and elements and processes on Tourism Destination Management and Marketing, and the participants put into practice these contents with a final project on the Shubra Palace visited on the first day of the course in Taif.

 

The UNWTO executive training course in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Tourism Destination Management and Marketing for the Accommodation sector, the Tour Operators and Travel Agencies sector, and the Museums and Cultural sector, organized by the World Tourism Organization, its UNWTO.Themis Foundation and the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH), was inaugurated on 6th October by Mr. Tariq Khan and Mr. Bader Al-Obaid from SCTH, and Mr. Omar Valdez, from the UNWTO.Themis Foundation. Also present at the opening ceremony were Dr. Edith Szivas, UNWTO.Themis Course Coordinator and the facilitators of the course: Dr. Adel Rady, Dr. Tamer Atef Aziz and Dr. Saleem Odeh.

This course is to share with the participants some concepts and processes on tourism destination management and marketing in general, as well as to provide the participants with knowledge, skills, tools and a forum for discussion and reflection on those topics applied to the different sectors. Among the activities, the participants are to work on a practical case of the Tuesday Market and Al-Muftaha Artist Village which were visited on the first day.