Egypt to set up tourist offices in Arab states to encourage more Arab tourists

Egypt's Minister of Tourism Ahmed El Maghrabi outlined yesterday the importance of Arab tourism to Egypt. "The Arab region comes second in terms of geographical areas from where we receive visitors," said the Minister of Tourism, referring to Europe as the biggest sender of tourists to Egypt.

"Better Arab cooperation in the field of tourism is even more feasible than improving the trade relations among the Arab countries," said El Maghrabi, noting that inter-Arab tourism accounts for 42 percent of overall Arab tourism, while inter-Arab trade only accounts for 9 percent of overall Arab trade.

El Maghrabi explained that the Ministry of Tourism is considering establishing tourist offices in the Arab countries for encouraging more Arabs to visit Egypt.

The Minister of Tourism said that the government of Egypt has decided on a set of policies to attract more Arab investments in the field of tourism, including selling land for tourist investment projects very cheaply, facilitating investment procedures and also making huge customs exemptions for imports needed by those projects.