Cairo will be left out of plans to promote Egypt due to the negative image of the capital, claims the country’s Minister of Tourism.
Tourism minister, Mr Hisham Zaazou said the on-going unrest in Cairo had resulted in ‘widespread international misperception’ of the rest of Egypt as an open and safe destination for tourists, during a visit to the UK.
He added that he plans to distance Cairo from the rest of the country in a bid to get tourism bouncing back in 2014.
He said: "Events in Cairo are being perceived as happening across Egypt which is simply not the case. For the time being, we will adopt a pragmatic approach of not promoting Cairo and focus on the rest of Egypt – Luxor, Aswan and the Red Sea."
"There’s one million square kilometres of country beyond Cairo that is unrivalled in its appeal to UK visitors."
In September 2013, only 300,000 tourists visited Egypt, a drop of 90% compared to September 2012.
Mr Zaazou said he is adopting a three pronged approach – reinstating EgyptAir’s London to Luxor route on February 17, targeting holidaymakers in a PR campaign including social media and bloggers and working with tour operator partners.
The live streaming from in-destination webcams will also be increased from five to 25 sites to show would-be holidaymakers what life is like in resort.
He said: "Furthermore, shorter term ‘tactical’ plans are in place, including incentives for airlines and tour operators.
"I am confident that our pragmatic approach of distancing Cairo from the rest ofEgypt coupled with ambitious short and medium term promotional plans will see 2014 being the year that Egypt tourism bounces back."
