Cairo: EgyPulse – News Desk
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met today with Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly and Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Mr. Sherif Fathy. The official spokesperson for the Presidency stated that President Sisi was briefed during the meeting on the overall executive and logistical details. The arrangements related to the various events of the Grand Egyptian Museum opening, scheduled for the coming first of November, including what has been accomplished of works within the project and the ongoing development in the area surrounding the museum.
In this context, the President stressed the importance of a precise follow-up of all details on the ground, to ensure that the opening of the museum comes out in the image befitting its status as a global cultural and archaeological edifice, along with continuing work on developing the visual image of the surrounding area. Ambassador Mohamed El-Shennawy, the official spokesperson, added that the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities reviewed during the meeting the latest developments in the file of tourism investment, within the framework of the state’s keenness to attract more investments to this vital sector, where the minister confirmed that the preliminary indicators reflect steady growth in demand for the Egyptian tourist destination from various world markets, in light of the continued efforts to develop the tourism product, expand in new tourism patterns, intensify promotional campaigns, and improve the quality of services.
In this framework, the President affirmed the necessity of the private sector undertaking a pivotal role in tourism investment, in a way that contributes to increasing the numbers of tourists coming to Egypt, developing the tourism infrastructure, achieving diversity in destinations, in addition to setting a marketing plan targeting new markets, working on maximizing the dollar revenues from the tourism sector, and governing the system in a way that ensures its sustainability.
The official spokesperson also clarified that during the meeting, ways of advancing the tourism sector and developing hotel establishments to accommodate larger numbers of tourists were discussed, where the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities indicated that the industry is currently witnessing the highest growth rates and is considered among the sectors most attracting foreign currency. In the same context, the minister reviewed several measures that were recently taken to stimulate the sector, especially those related to facilitating procedures of converting lands and buildings into hotel activities, as well as increasing the number of vacation apartments, in a way that contributes to increasing the accommodation capacity of hotel rooms.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the President followed up on ways to strengthen cooperation with UNESCO in the field of protecting and preserving cultural heritage and archaeological sites, and His Excellency also followed up on the efforts made in the field of restoration, development, and raising the efficiency of services provided to visitors in museums and archaeological sites, in a way that contributes to improving the tourist experience while preserving the civilizational heritage. In this regard, the President affirmed the importance of applying the principles of sustainable development in the management of archaeological sites registered on the World Heritage List, and discussed mechanisms of cooperation with UNESCO to set an integrated future vision for the preservation of these sites.
