It’s great to hear some good news coming out of Egypt for a change instead of the diet of negativity we’ve all become used to over the last few years.
For starters, international rating agency Moody’s has now changed the North African country’s outlook from negative to stable because of an improving political and security landscape.
Egypt’s banking system has just upped its social credentials with the announcement it’s spent about $140 million over the last three years on slum clearance and development.
And billions of dollars loaned to Egypt by Qatar to prop up its ailing economy following the January 2011 revolution could soon be paid back. Some $500 million has already been transferred from Egyptian coffers to the Persian Gulf country.
Iconic tombs
On a more personal level, Orbital Travel, the 5-star Nile cruise specialists, have introduced new land based tours in Egypt visiting both the most iconic tombs, temples and monuments of Ancient Egypt as well as its lesser known sites.
If that’s not an excuse to dust down the passport and head on out to the land of sunshine, pyramids and long-dead pharaohs then nothing is.
Orbital Travel is offering three example itineraries based in Cairo, Luxor and Aswan. Some of the lesser known sites are easily reached from Luxor, such as the Tombs of the Nobles on the West Bank, where hundreds of tombs are embedded in the rock, often richly decorated with frescoes depicting the working lives of the inhabitants.
John McCallum, Orbital Travel’s managing director, says, “These bespoke tours based in hotels offer great flexibility and value for money. Not only can you see the some of the ‘greats’ of Ancient Egypt but you are also able to visit the sites which are less well known and which offer the most stunning art, reliefs and architecture. Some of these sites can also be included as an extension to a Nile cruise.”
Full recovery
The latest offering from Orbital Travel is surely indicative of a wider resurgence in Egypt’s once-thriving tourism sector. The country’s tourism minister HishamZaazou is certainly upbeat about prospects, predicting a full recovery by the end of 2015, assuming the current level of stability is maintained, and an increase to some 25 million visitors annually by 2020.
According to the Oxford Business Group (OBG), Zaazou’s upbeat outlook is partly due to a number of government programmes that are expected to bolster the sector and a depreciating pound which makes it an affordable destination for European travellers in particular.
In a report, the OBG says Egypt’s ambitious 2020 plan is being driven by a three-year marketing campaign hoping to attract tourists and investors. The ministry is also heavily lobbying to ease any remaining foreign travel warnings as well as taking a multi-pronged approach to attract tourists from a variety of countries.
As well as pitching for tourists from Egypt’s traditional markets in Europe and North America Zaazou is looking to target India, China and Latin American countries among others. In addition, the minister has announced increased direct flights from New Delhi to Egypt and the planned launch of direct flights from four points in China to Aswan in November, targeting 142,000 Chinese tourists in the first year.
Read more from the OBG here.
