Egypt’s Civil Aviation Minister Mohamed Manar and Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled al-Anany on Tuesday discussed introducing a package of incentives to stimulate foreign tourism, once it returns to Egypt at a time to be determined by the cabinet.
The aviation ministry has granted airlines a 50 percent discount on landing and parking fees and a 20 percent discount on ground services at the Red Sea, South Sinai, and Marsa Matrouh, Manar said, alongside providing all necessary facilities and procedures to help encourage tourist traffic towards beach destinations.
He stressed that airports were ready to receive tourists, committing to all precautionary and preventive measures outlined by the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health to ensure the safety of travelers.
Anany explained that this package of discounts comes to encourage major travel agents to bring more tourists to Egypt in general, and to the coastal tourist governorates in particular.
He added that his ministry has granted a 20 percent discount on tickets for all museums and archaeological sites of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, alongside visit permits for tourists coming from abroad through the EgyptAir and Air Cairo airlines of a discount period of 15 days.
He said that before the outbreak, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities adopted a new policy linking the Red Sea with archeological sites in the Nile Valley in Upper Egypt, and beach tourism with cultural tourism, making tourist destinations of all kinds available to tourists coming to Egypt.
As part of cooperation efforts between the tourism and aviation ministries, Anany said that last February EgyptAir began to operate flights between the cities of Sharm el-Sheikh and Luxor, after it had stopped for several years.
The Ministry of Petroleum in May agreed to reduce aviation fuel prices, bringing the total value of the reduction to 10 cents per gallon, to be applied once air traffic permanently returns across the country.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
