Monday, Jun 15, 2015
Dubai: The number of tourists who visited Egypt last April grew by 17.7 per cent compared with the same time a year ago, according to a statement from state news agency WAM on Monday, citing data from the Egyptian Tourism Authority.
The number of visitors in April, however, were not stated.
The number of Emirati tourists grew by 49.8 per cent during the first four months of 2015 compared with the same period last year. In April, the number of Emirati tourists increased by 36.4 per cent from April 2014. Also, the number of Emirati tourists staying in hotels and nights spent in Egypt increased by 22.3 per cent month-on-month in April.
Meanwhile, the number of Saudi tourists rose by 69.9 per cent during the first four months of 2015 compared with the same period last year and by 57.3 per cent month-on-month in April, followed by tourists from Kuwait, up 37 per cent from January to April and by 20 per cent month-on-month in April.
“The diversity of our tourism offerings and destinations demonstrates the competitiveness of the Egyptian tourism sector in the region and the world. These figures also reinforce Egypt’s position as a tourism hub for cultural, artistic and entertainment events in the region,” Sami Mahmoud, Chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Authority, said in the statement.
The growth in visitor numbers come as Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism launches its campaign “Masr Qariba”, which means “Egypt is close” in Arabic, aimed at attracting Arab tourists.
Egypt will launch its new global advertising and publicity campaign that will highlight cultural tourism, with 20-25 per cent of the campaign’s budget allocated to promoting this type of tourism. The new campaign will focus on restoring tourism to cultural destinations by creating tourist packages that combine visits to cultural destinations with opportunities to stay at beach resorts.
Staff Report
Gulf News 2015. All rights reserved.
