The Egyptian government is considering relaxing the visa rules for Arab tourists in order to encourage more visitors to Egypt, a move which could provide a much-needed injection of foreign currency.
"We are thinking of exempting Arab tourists from visas,” said Tourism Minister Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour at a press conference on Sunday, adding that Arabs like to spend their summer vacations in Egypt.
“We are still studying the security dimensions related to such a decision,” he said.
Commenting on the Salafis prohibiting tourism because they believe it is against Islam, Abdel Nour said, “Those people will pull us back for decades."
“We have a chance to double our revenues from tourism to US$30 billion a year,” he said. “So we must be proactive."
He also said EgyptAir should operate new lines in order to meet the ministry's expansion plan for new markets, pointing to plans to attract Iranian tourists.
“This would be difficult,” said Civil Aviation Minister Ibrahim Manaa. “EgyptAir has suffered many losses since the revolution.”
Translated from the Arabic Edition
