Tourism Minister Yahya Rashid said Friday that the German tourism will return to Egypt this summer, stressing that there are positive signs of the return of German tourists again, especially after the visit of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Cairo
In a phone-in with Masa’a dmc talk show on dmc satellite channel, Rashid said that tourism is recovering again, and efforts will continue until it returns to normal rates in line with Egypt's touristic status.
He continued that he felt from the participants in the ITB Berlin tourism exhibition a growing confidence in the Egyptian market, pointing to unprecedented preparations to attract the largest number of tourists this season.
State-run MENA news agency reported in January that Germany has removed the last restriction on tourist flights to and from the Sharm el-Sheikh and South Sinai areas.
The Federal Ministry of Transport in Germany issued an announcement exempting German airliners from the notice not to fly below 26,000 feet when passing over the north of the Sinai Peninsula.
This is a first for aviation services to Egypt since the downing of the Russian passenger jet over Sinai in 2015.
The statement said that the move would allow German airliners to fly directly to Sharm al-Sheikh airport without paying extra insurance fees.
Egypt has been battling to recover the badly-affected tourism sector over the course of 2016, after years of political turmoil since the 25 January uprising in 2011.
This was exacerbated by the downing of the Russian plane in October 2015, which killed all 224 passengers and crew on board, most of them Russian tourists.
