How did the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities deal with the current international events?

The international arena is witnessing important political events that affect the tourism movement coming to Egypt and the Middle East. Therefore, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has taken several quick measures to address them.

The Ministry took measures due to the current events taking place in the international arena, including its continuous communication with professional partners from Egypt tour operators and local and international airlines to follow up on indicators of incoming Egypt Christmas tours and Egypt Easter tours during the current tourism season.

The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities confirmed that it has been approved to extend the current aviation incentive program until next April, with some amendments to it and the presence of special Cairo day tours from the airport, in addition to providing new additional Egypt travel packages to some tourist destinations for a period of 4 months, as this program is considered to play an important role in pushing and increasing the numbers of incoming Egypt day tours and achieving its goals within the last period.

Ahmed Issa, the Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, chaired the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Tourism and Antiquities Support Fund at the Ministry’s headquarters in the New Administrative Capital in Egypt.

Ahmed Issa began the meeting by referring to the measures and mechanisms taken by the Ministry to raise the governance system in public spending on promotion, activation, and motivation items and activities.

He also reviewed the role and tasks of the Fund’s “Internal Audit and Governance” Committee, which was formed by a ministerial decision last September and whose tasks include reviewing actual performance, determining the extent of implementation of plans, and comparing them to the plan, which contributes to raising the level and efficiency of performance, enhancing further governance of the Fund, and ensuring the implementation of the Council's strategies and plans to the fullest extent.

He pointed out that the committee is scheduled to include three experienced members of the Board of Directors who are chosen by the Board and that it will choose from them a chairman in its first session, as its meetings will be held at least four times a year.

Minister Issa emphasized the importance of measuring and reviewing the actual performance of executive plans and comparing them to the planned ones. The ministry closely monitors indicators of incoming Egypt luxury tours on a weekly basis, enabling the strategic allocation of financial budgets and expenditures on promotion and activation activities in each country based on the number of incoming Egypt group tour arrivals.

During the meeting, the Fund’s income statement for the fiscal year 2022/2023 compared to the fiscal year 2021/2022 was presented and discussed, including resources, revenues, and various aspects of disbursement, in addition to presenting a draft of the Fund’s estimated spending plan for the fiscal year 2023/2024 compared to the actual plan for the fiscal year 2022/2023, as well as presenting cash flows for the period from July to September 2023 compared to the similar period of the previous fiscal year.

In this context, the Minister praised the efforts made by the Fund’s work team to raise the efficiency of the Fund’s work and their participation in achieving the purposes of governance and measuring performance.

Many other topics were also discussed during the meeting, which are related to the tasks and role of the Fund in supporting and financing activities that work to improve the tourism system in Egypt, such as Egypt Nile Cruise tours and Egypt shore excursions, and raise the capabilities and qualifications of workers in tourism and antiquities.