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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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