Although indications pointed towards Egypt’s progress with regards to the number of tourists visiting the country, the dismissal of former Tourism Minister Hesham Zaazou seems to have negatively impacted Egypt at the Internationale Tourismus-Börse Berlin (ITB Berlin) trade show, which ended on Sunday.
The Egyptian government may have lost the confidence of official institutions in Germany after the tourism minister put out a press release confirming the signing of the ITB Egypt- Africa. These statements were retracted, however, right before the minister was removed from office.
The dismissal of Zaazou 24 hours after the start of the ITB Berlin caused significant confusion and inconvenience to the hosts, and apologies were extended to the Germans for the meetings that had to be cancelled as a result of the events.
With regards to tourism statistics, Egypt reported losses that were mainly represented in the decrease of accommodation prices at four- and five-star hotels to US$10-12 down from $20-25.
Hotel manager Rami Aziz said hotels cannot create a demand on the Egyptian product that would still guarantee good prices.
Moreover, Egypt was unable to negotiate the cancellation of the aviation tax imposed by German law on trips to Egypt, while other countries, such as Turkey, Israel and the Canary Islands will benefit from such an exemption throughout the summer months.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
