“It is most fitting that Egypt, home to some of the world’s most celebrated cultural heritage and a leading tourism destination, be the host country for the official celebrations of World Tourism Day 2011,” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, announcing the news.

Egypt is world famous for its rich history and vibrant culture, which draw millions of tourists to the country each year. It is precisely this interaction between the peoples and cultures of the world, driven by tourism, that is at the heart of the WTD 2011 theme, “Tourism – Linking Cultures.”

“We are very honored to be hosting the official celebrations of World Tourism Day 2011 in Egypt. Tourism is one of the most important sectors of our society, representing 12% of our GDP in 2010 and responsible for one in every seven jobs. World Tourism Day is an excellent opportunity to raise awareness around the world of this vital economic sector and its contribution to social, economic, and environmental well-being worldwide and in Egypt in particular,” said the Minister of Tourism of Egypt, Mounir Fakhri Abdel-Nour.

Planned WTD activities in Aswan include a High-Level Think Tank on the 2011 theme, at which leading public and private tourism stakeholders, academia, and the media will address the role of tourism in building understanding, respect, and tolerance worldwide.

WTD activities running throughout the year include the annual WTD Photo Competition, which offers a round-trip to Egypt as first prize. UNWTO has also launched the first ever WTD Twitter Competition, asking people to “tweet” about how they consider tourism to link cultures. Winning entries will appear on the official program handed out during the celebrations in Aswan.

ABOUT WORLD TOURISM DAY

World Tourism Day is celebrated annually on September 27. Its purpose is to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political, and economic value. The event seeks to address global challenges outlined in the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to highlight the contribution the tourism sector can make in reaching these goals.

RELEVANT LINKS:

World Tourism Day 2011 Website: http://wtd.unwto.org/

Think Tank Programme: http://wtd.unwto.org/en/content/preliminary-programme-0

Aswan, Egypt / Image via egyptlabtours.com

(eTN) – According to latest news, tourism travel to Egypt is slowly returning to normal, following the break due to the drastic turmoil caused by destabilization of its ruler.

“For the return to normalcy, it requires a vigorous effort for the world to know that everything is back to normal in the country and rest assured of the maximum security,” stated the new Minister of Tourism, Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, at the press conference in Rome, along with the Director for the Egypt Tourism Office Italy, Mohamed Abdel Gabbar, and the new Ambassador for Egypt in Italy.

During his stay in Rome, the Minister met with tour operators and ASTOI(Association of Italian Tour Operators) directors to verify the needs of the Italian market.

A very important meeting was held with his counterpart, the Italian Minister Ms. M.V. Brambilla, with which he signed a joint declaration at Palazzo Chigi on the joint activity in the years 2011-12.

The slow improvement, the minister said, indicates that the recovery underway will settle down to normal levels by September 2011. From Europe, there were positive signals. From Russia, in particular, 220,000 tourists arrived in March and April. In 2010, Egypt hosted 2.8 million Russian tourists. Italy also reported an improvement, and tourism officials are confident that the beaches of Sharm El Sheikh, in particular, will return to be as popular as in past days.

A special promotional plan for Italy

The recovery plan for Egypt will stretch around the world and foresees an advertising campaign of high impact that will involve the hard copy media, the major television channels, and the web sites and social networks that have been of great support to the struggle of Egypt’s people. “We rely now on their support for the tourism recovery,” said the minister.

An incentive support, conceived by the Egyptian government, is extended to attract international charter flight companies. They can fly to all airports in Egypt, Cairo airports excluded. The incentive shall privilege those companies operating on a two double-touch basis.

The joint statement, in implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding

Signed in Cairo in 2005, the Memorandum of Understanding also provides for the exchange of experts between universities and industry bodies in their respective states for professional training on the job, for public management training of employees working in the tourism sector, the exchange of information on the sustainability of capital investments in tourism and the preservation of acquired rights, agreed-to initiatives to strengthen aspects of correct information for tourists and the protection of their rights, and increased collaboration between partners within world tourism and the union for the Mediterranean.

The meeting also touched on issues concerning the situation in the North African country and its prospects for the recovery of tourism. Based on data released by the World Tourism Organisation (WTO), Egypt in 2010 had recorded 14.1 million international arrivals, with receipts amounting to 12.5 billion dollars, but in the first three months of 2011, because of the minor arrivals, it dropped to 45.3 percent. No exception for the flows from Italy – according to the National Observatory of Tourism – fell by 65.6 percent in the first quarter 2011. In line with the long tradition of friendship between Italy and Egypt, Ms. M.V.Brambilla expressed solidarity with the Egyptian government and its people for the difficulties and hardships they face in this transition due also to the conflict in Libya. The minister also espressed his prompt readiness to support Egypt as a destination of interest of the Italian tourist and of the entrepreneurs in this country, with the aim to bring back to normalcy, in the shortest possible time, an influx of tourists.

Last-minute news announced that the curfew in Cairo will be withdrawn from June 16.

The country is on its way to recovery, however, desperately needs to attract more visitors. When times were hardest, a US Egyptologist Dr Sarah Parcak of the University of Alabama made an incredible discovery of 17 previously unknown underground pyramids as well as approximately 1,000 tombs and 3,000 settlements.

The timing could not be better; the discovery has been made thanks to infra-red images acquired by satellites orbiting 400 miles above the earth. While studying these in great detail, Dr Parcak and her team praised this new technology which has the capacity to detect objects less than a meter long.

The excavation works have been launched only recently, however, have already produced valuable evidence. Two pyramids have already been uncovered and many findings date back some 3,000 years.

The excavation works are currently under way in Saqqara, and as the news spreads, tourists with passion for ancient Egypt will hopefully start coming back. In an attempt to lure back tourists, some previously inaccessible sites, such as seven tombs of leading retainers of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, have now opened to the public.

The country is desperate to get local tourism back on its feet and is prepared to make every foreign visit worthwhile. It is safe to say, that never before have there been so many ancient treasures available to explore freely. Hopefully, many visitors will appreciate that.

tourism-review.com

UGANDA (eTN) – A regular source at the Egypt Air Kampala office was excited over the weekend, telling news that the airline had just taken delivery of a 6th brand new Boeing B777-300ER, which was ordered four years ago.

Instead of deferring delivery of the long-range jet, the airline took delivery via an international leasing company specialized in aircraft leases, an early indication that traffic levels have started to claw back, albeit slowly, to pre-crisis levels.

Said the source: “We are happy to hear that we got a new aircraft. Here in Uganda we fly 3 times a week, and we are always hoping that eventually we can go daily from Entebbe to Cairo. We are a Star Alliance member, and our service levels are good; connections out of Cairo are growing to many new destinations. New modern aircraft also help us to compete favorably, and Uganda is also an important market for air freight to and from Egypt. Finally the crisis is over, and we are moving again so please tell the good news to everyone.”

Egypt Air flies into the region, also covering Kenya and Tanzania, although they recently halted their twice-a-week flight from Cairo to Juba. Traffic for MS came to a near standstill when Cairo was under curfew, and crews and ground staff were unable to make it to the airport for their flights, but as the situation in Egypt has started to normalize, so have traffic levels for Egypt Air.

Happy landings for the new “bird,” the crews, and the passengers flying in the future on this latest B777.

Image via flightglobal.com

AL TAHRIR SQUARE, Egypt (eTN) – Thousand of Egyptians filled Cairo’s symbolic Al Tahrir Square after the last Friday prayers and the day after to celebrate the first month of their successful revolution and the second week since Mubarak’s forced step down from office. The peaceful gathering also launched slogans aimed at urging the military to overhaul the newly-appointed cabinet and install a fresh team of technocrats.

Among the prevailing crowd of youngsters, many students conversant in English expressed their pride for the contribution to the epochal political change. Their expectation is now for the system to recognize the significance of the change, which for them means jobs, economic opportunities, and social justice – the only conditions that will make them feel “free” in a peaceful new Egypt.

Cairo, a megalopolis of almost twenty million people, was seen as surprisingly calm. Life as usual was witnessed by the maddening traffic that, together with the pyramids, is an icon of the city. It is really hard to believe that a turmoil of such proportion, left no traces except for the sad loss of 13 young lives, whose plasticized group image is saved in memory. Unconscious children, accompanied by their parents, pose joyfully in front of the military tanks parked opposite the re-opened museum building for a souvenir photo. History will remind them that their elder brothers contributed to their improved welfare.

The domestic industry has lost tourism revenues during the past six weeks to the tune of over a billion dollars.

Prior to this new revolution, the country aimed to accommodate this year about 16 million visitors vs. 14.5 in 2010. One million fled a few days before the end of January, leaving deserted hotels, restaurants, and shops – all areas of recall even in the Red Sea. Normality has now returned, but employment remains far below normal this season: in figures, about 8% in Sharm, against a historic 70% in January.

The country, back to business now, expects the return of international tourism, one of their major sources of income. This is a difficult task that the new Minister for Tourism, Mr. Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, is called to face.

At a press conference held at the Intercontinental Hotel Cairo, the minister said: “An emergency takes the reins of one of the most important source[s] of revenue for the Egyptian economy, which contributes about 11% of GDP, employing nearly 2 million people. According to data from government sources, this should also be the second source of income after remittances.” The minister also informed that a support scheme for tour operators will be available to facilitate their promotion of the destination.

Eng/Hussein Massoud, Chairman & CEO of Egyptair Holding Company, disclosed the immediate plan for the Italian market, which foresees the increase of weekly flights to the major Italian destinations and the availability of charter services to meet the increase in demand for Egyptian destinations and beyond Cairo, as well as on-demand and new cargo services.

Among the guests at the press conference, a delegation of Italian journalists and the president of Italian Tour Operators (ASTOI), Mr. R.Corbella, were invited to Cairo by Mr Mohamed Abdel Gabbar, director of Tourism in Egypt, and in collaboration with Mr. Wael Kadry, General Manager of Egypt Air, to support a campaign named “Egypt in Our Heart.” (Italy is one of the largest contributors in tourism to Egypt.) The campaign is aimed to return to normality the life status of the city in the aftermath of the known events and solicit the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to lift the advisory banning travel to Cairo. It is considered by most European countries that travel to the Red Sea destinations are safe.

A message behind the scenes by Mr. El Gabbar stated that the Egyptian destinations have not suffered any damage and are completely safe and all the archaeological sites are open. “We have already dealt with difficult situations in the past; we have always known how to react. Now we want to give a signal of confidence to the organizers of travel to Egypt, because the country will be even stronger and more competitive, up to its role as a major tourist destination,” he said.

Mr. Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, Secretary of the liberal Wafd party and the opposition, became the first representative government in post-Mubarak times.

Born in 1945, Abdel Nour graduated in Economics from Cairo University, specializing in the local American university as an expert in finance and agribusiness. He is of ancient Coptic Christian family and is also the nephew of Fahkry Abdel Nour, one of the closest friends of Saad Zaghloul, the leader of the revolution of 1919 against British occupation.

www.egypt.travel

Abdel Nour made the announcement during a press conference on Saturday, also attended by Hussein Massoud, CEO of EgyptAir Holding Company, and Amr al-Ezabi, director of the Egyptian Tourist Authority.

The minister stressed that Egypt will not become a cheap tourist destination offering programs for low prices.

He revealed he was going to invite young Facebook users to publicize Egypt’s tourist destinations and to invite international visitors. He added that his ministry intends to take part in tourism exhibitions and conferences to promote Egypt among tourists, especially in light of the country’s glamour after its successful pro-democracy revolution.

Massoud, meanwhile, said EgyptAir plans to increase its flights to Italy, the first country to invite its citizens to revisit Egypt. By coincidence, Italy also happens to be the first destination to where EgyptAir flew in history.

He noted that recently, 23 flights per week go to Rome, Milan and Catania, and said extra flights will be organized to all tourist destinations in Egypt starting 17 March.

Source: almasryalyoum.com

Oprah Winfrey / Image via blogs.bet.com

As the situation in both Egypt and Tunisia returns to normal, tourism stakeholders from the private and public sectors have reacted accordingly. Major tourism sites are open to the public, airlines have resumed flights, tour operators in many of the main source markets have restarted selling holidays, and governments have updated their travel advisories to reflect the unfolding situation.

“As the situation has evolved over the past few weeks, I have been pleased to see that travel advisories have been kept accurate, confined to the affected areas, and regularly updated,” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai.

As the situation returns to normal, tourism – a highly resilient economic sector – will be among the first sectors to rebound and is, therefore, well-positioned to support the overall economic recovery. UNWTO is working with the relevant authorities to ensure a speedy bounce back and the upcoming travel trade fair, ITB, will be a good opportunity to consolidate these efforts,” he added.

Tourism has long been, and will continue to be, an integral part of the Egyptian and Tunisian national economies. International tourism receipts over GDP alone represent around 6% in Egypt and 10% in Tunisia. This share is even higher when the full tourism sector is considered, reaching as much as 11% in the case of Egypt.

Egypt reported 12 million international tourist arrivals in 2009, and preliminary results for 2010 are 14 million. In terms of international tourism receipts, the figures stand at around US$11 billion in 2009 and US$12.5 billion in 2010. Tunisia saw 7 million international tourist arrivals in 2009, generating US$3 billion.

Source: WWW.unwto.org

The recent events in Egypt did not only appear on the front pages of newspapers all over the world, but also affected the Egyptian tourism industry considerably. During a period of mass demonstrations, police brutality, looting and general chaos, 1 million tourists have left the country in search of safer surroundings. The situation has been exacerbated by the fact that the winter season is generally the peak season as Europeans and North Americans look to escape the harsh weather conditions in their own countries.

Even if foreigners were willing to put up with the turmoil and stay in Egypt, it would still be virtually impossible as even bus drivers and doctors have joined in the strikes. Scenes in the media of foreigners being evacuated by embassies in Cairo have done huge amounts of damage to Egypt’s reputation and those who have stayed around are beginning to wonder where the next food is coming from.

Nile cruise bookings have plummeted and the Jaz hotel brand in the Red Sea has experienced drops of up to 40%. However, the good news is that once the strikers return to work and the dust settles after the chaos, the long-term damage should not be so great. Indeed, just a short-term impact is expected. Egypt is too important in terms of tourism and has too much to offer for people to stay away for so long.

www.tourism-review.com

Over the next few weeks we should expect to hear a great deal about the situation in Egypt. Commentators will speak about the ideals of democracy and politicians will each provide their own spin. Yet there are a number of issues that seem to have fall off the commentators’ maps and may have a great deal of impact on the tourism industry.

The first thing to note is how different the coverage is of this “revolt” and of that which occurred in Iran not long ago. The Iranian unrest was clearly about the population’s desire for democracy, yet neither American nor European politicians had much to say and the media’s coverage was minimal in comparison to the Egyptian situation.

Furthermore, we know very little about what is causing the Egyptian disorders and what their long-term consequences may be. While these disorders may be a sincere desire for some form of democracy it is still too early to tell if this is the true reason behind these vast manifestations. Could there be other reasons that the media are missing and how might these other reasons impact tourism?

Certainly the lack of political stability in Egypt has short –term consequences for tourism. Cruise ships will avoid Egyptian ports, the Red Sea resorts will suffer, and travel to the entire Middle East may decline at least until the situation returns to a sense of calm. It is still to early to tell when Egyptian tourism will return to “normal” and which locations may “benefit” from a public that seeks alternative and safer locations.

One possible hypothesis is that these manifestations have more to do with the current rise in food prices and less to do with a sincere desire for western democracy. If this is the case then these manifestations may have a major impact on tourism. In recent years food prices have risen sharply. Part of this reason is due to the West’s switching to corn-based ethanol. The removal of millions of food producing acres and their transformation into “ethanol” acreage may be a major cause in the rise of food prices not only at local supermarkets but also in restaurants and other places where disposable income is spent. If such an hypothesis is correct then Egypt may be more a repetition of the root causes behind the French Revolution (the high cost of bread) and less about ideology.

If the high cost of fuel and food is the real basis behind the Egyptian troubles, then tourism officials need to ask themselves if this new economic situation may have long-term consequences for the tourism industry. Will western consumers continue to frequent restaurants or will the restaurant industry already suffering from a weak economy continue to constrict? If fuel prices continue to rise how will these price rises impact the transportation component of the tourism industry? What is clear is that tourism officials must not fall into the trap of seeking simple answers to highly complex issues.

Although tourism officials are not responsible for containing political or economic problems they do need to be aware of how local problems may impact their own community. Officials need to consider what type of risk management they use? How will they handle a crisis and do they have a plan to handle a crisis prior to the crisis’s occurrence?

Tourism officials cannot stop a crisis from happening, but it is easier to modify a plan in the midst of a crisis then it is to create a plan during a crisis.

The Egyptian experience then ought to remind tourism officials that theirs is a highly volatile industry that often must react to the winds of change. Here are a few things that tourism officials may wish to consider:

1. Make sure that you review your crisis management plans on a regular basis.

2. Establish a clear chain of command should a crisis occur.

3. Work with local police departments.

4. Have an on-going evacuation plan set.

5. Do not get into a political guessing-game, the causes of a problem from a tourism perspective may be less important during a crisis then the way that tourism officials handle the crisis.

6. Do not lose credibility. Have clear and accurate information

7. Develop close ties with people in the media who can get the tourism story out to the public.

8. Crises are as much about perception as fact. Make sure that you have a handle on the perception part of a crisis.

9. Never forget that tourism is about people and good customer service. In case of a crisis remember that your guests’ welfare and safety must come first.

10. Plan for recovery on day one of a crisis. During the height of a crisis remember that crises do come to an end and that the time to begin to plan for recovery is when the situation seems to be at its worst.

Dr. Peter E. Tarlow, President of Tourism & More

ptarlow@tourismandmore.com