Tourism Minister Applauds 2000 Performance

Minister of Tourism Dr. Mamdouh El Beltagui spoke at an AmCham Egypt luncheon on January 24 at the Conrad Hotel on the subject of "Tourism as a propeller for economic growth: challenges and opportunities."

AmCham president Mohamed Mansour and executive director Hisham Fahmy made opening remarks. AmCham board member Omar Mohanna then introduced the minister.

El Beltagui applauded Egypt's improved performance in the tourism sector, making a comparison between the $0.3 billion of tourist receipts in 1982 and the $4.3 billion in the 1999/2000 fiscal year. He also spoke positively on the country's improved hotel-room capacity, which leapt from 19,000 rooms in 1982 to 107,000 rooms in 2000. He attributed these improved figures to "good crisis management" following 1997's Luxor incident.

The minister went on to stress the industry's importance as the "top earner of foreign exchange," mentioning central bank figures which put tourism-related revenue at 26.9 percent of total foreign currency entering the country.

But, stressed the minister, despite the better numbers and "Egypt's abundance of physical attractions," as well as the Middle East's status as the world’s fastest-growing region for tourism, Egypt’s share in the world tourism market is still far below its potential. El Beltagui cited five main challenges to the sector that must be addressed: the growing power of international market forces; the liberalization of international tourist transactions; an increasing tendency towards consolidation and mergers; the growing preponderance of "e" technology in tourism sales; and a greater public awareness of environmental issues.

The minister outlined a plan for tourist development which aims to address these issues and, by doing so, to increase tourist arrivals to 9.5 million and revenue to LE 7.6 billion by 2005. Implementing this plan, he stressed, will require an upgrade of Egypt's reputation in the world market. The international nature of the industry makes the maintenance of international standards paramount.

The minister went on to emphasize the importance of diversifying the sector. In the past, he pointed out, 95 percent of tourism was cultural, whereas today that percentage stands at 70, with the remaining 30 percent consisting of business trips, conferences and recreation.

El Beltagui's speech was followed by a question and answer session, in which one participant asked about the state of Egypt’s tourism industry after three months of intifada in Palestine. "Peace and tourism are twins," the minister answered, adding that, because of the current circumstances, "rates of occupancy [in Sinai] have dropped to 5 percent, when the international rate is 73 percent. There are no alternatives to peace."

The luncheon was sponsored by the Accor Group, CIIC Tourism & Development, the Conrad Hotel, IESC and the United Bank of Egypt Diners Club Card.

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