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An Egyptian tourist web site Published declarations made by Mr. Hisham Zaazu Deputy Egyptian Tourism Minister who is well-known for his objectivity in dealing with issues , but unfortunately his declarations were full of fallacies and contrary to facts which undoubtedly confirm the waste of public money in Egyptian Tourism Authority (ETA) ... Dear Reader , let me uncover the fact of the matters which show the genuine reasons behind the decline of Arab tourism coming to Egypt away from the pretext of global financial crisis and swine flu.
According to Zaazu , Egypt is the first destination for Arab tourists during vacation seasons and summer holidays, but the truth is quite the opposite as Tunisia has won the lion's share of (4 millions) Libyan tourism , while Egypt's share was 410 thousand tourists from the same country with a 14.8% retreat compared to previous year.
Meanwhile, Turkey was able to attract thousands of Egyptian tourists more than the Turkish tourists who came to Egypt apart from Syria which has become one of the competitive market endeavoring to occupy the largest share of Arab tourism.
The secret of these markets' success lies in their awareness of the importance of Arab tourism and consequently, they offer the maximum comfortable means and services to Arab tourists on equal terms with foreigners, in addition to the ease obtaining of visas at the air, sea and land ports of these states, for example, Qatar has hired an Egyptian passport officer to finalize entry procedures for Qatari travelers so as to keep them away from the poor services provided at Egyptian airports.
Concerning the return of Arab tourist convoys that had been canceled last year , Hisham Zaazu revealed that those convoys have had the greatest influence in encouraging Arab families to travel at the beginning of holiday season , adding that they directly help keep on the growth of Arab tourism in Egypt, which amounted to 23% of Egypt's annual total tourism (2,5 million Arab tourists) .
Furthermore, the number of Arab tourists and nights has fallen since the beginning of these convoys as they did not reach 15% in 2008 or 2009 . Similarly, Arab tourists amounted to (1879310) in 2009 with a 3,9% decrease compared to 2008 (1955102) tourists, according to figures and statistics issued by Tourism Ministry.
On the other hand Hisham Zaazu's statement that convoys achieve a promotional role in the media contradicted the fact that convoys' media feedback is commonly measured by the resounding effect reflected by newspapers and magazines of the state for which convoys headed and not by Egyptian media in that state or even by Egyptian media accompanying convoy.
And now can Mr. Zaazu explain to us the squander of public money in ETA after the authority's decision allowing the travel of a delegation consisted of Egyptian singer Iman El Bahr Darwish , his assistant as well as Director of Tourist ceremony Departemt Ms. Ola Tourism and her assistant Mrs. Lubna Gamal al-Din a week before the kick-off of the convoy just for making preparations for the concert and not for preparing the professional basics of tourist convoys?!
Finally, I wish to remind dear reader that Arab tourism 's importance lies in the fact that Arab tourist always stays longer and spends much more than tourists of other nationalities , so , Egyptian Tourism Ministry has to reconsider tourist convoys which proved "failure" apart from being an example of public funds waste.
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