Sharm El-Sheikh: Deif Allah Al-Mutawa
The activities of the African Tourism Forum kicked off this Monday morning in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh, which is organized by the international Rixos Group and the Turkish investment company GMT for organizing exhibitions and conferences.
The forum was attended by a number of ministers, senior officials, investors in the tourism sector in Egypt and African countries, ambassadors of African countries, Egyptian and African businessmen, and more than 2,000 members of the international tourism sector from 35 countries.
This forum is the first of its kind on the African continent, and aims to enhance cooperation in the field of tourism between African countries, attract foreign investments, and create new job opportunities for African youth.
The opening ceremony of the forum was attended by Dr. Ahmed Issa, Egyptian Minister of Tourism, Major General Khaled Fouda, Governor of South Sinai, Fattah Tamangy, founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rixos, Nasser Abdel Latif, owner of Rixos Egypt Group, Selcuk Meral, Director of the Turkish GME Company, and Dr. Yousry El-Sharkawy, President of the Egyptian-African Businessmen Association. ,
In his speech before the forum, the Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Ahmed Issa, stressed the importance of developing and coordinating unified policies aimed at maximizing common interests and promoting intra-tourism between different African countries.
He said that this forum is considered a professional gathering and an effective participatory platform, to shed light on the distinct and unique tourism components and products in our ancient African continent and an opportunity to enhance joint tourism cooperation between African countries, and to encourage experts, professionals and investors in the tourism sector towards concerted efforts to develop the tourism industry in Africa and maximize… Its role in the global tourism sector.
He pointed out that this forum and exhibition comes at a time when our African continent is witnessing great success in restoring the rates of incoming tourist traffic, as it recovered 96% of the volume of incoming traffic during the year 2019, according to the World Tourism Organization report… in which it described tourism in the African continent as the fastest. Growth during the year 2023, and this makes us all proud… and to continue working to strengthen more mechanisms for joint African cooperation and integration to draw a road map for the tourism industry on the continent of Africa.
He stated that the tourism industry in Egypt has achieved positive results during the recent period, in light of the implementation of the national strategy for tourism development, which includes a set of general policies and plans to develop the industry in a way that contributes to achieving its goals with annual growth ranging between 25% to 30%, reaching 30 million tourists by The year 2028, and the three main axes of this strategy came to confront the most prominent challenges facing the industry and prevent it from reaching the targets of increasing the number of incoming tourism traffic, which includes working to increase the number of airline seats coming to Egypt in cooperation with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and improving the tourism investment climate in Egypt, especially hotels. In addition to working to improve the tourism experience in Egypt and raise the quality of tourism services provided there.
In light of the implementation of this strategy, Egypt has achieved a record number of tourist arrivals during the year 2023, as the number of arriving tourists reached 14.906 million tourists, a number that exceeds the tourist numbers for the year 2010, which is considered the peak year, as it achieved 14.731 million tourists.
Major General Khaled Fouda, Governor of South Sinai, said that the great importance of holding this important forum stems from the growing and inevitability of the role played by the tourism industry, and what it does in improving the summary of African countries in particular and the countries of the world in general, especially in light of the regional changes and challenges the world is witnessing. And an international one who delivered her speech to many countries of the world.
The governor explained that cooperation and teamwork between those involved in the tourism and investment sectors have become inevitable in light of these changes, which is confirmed by the interest and attendance of more than 2,000 participants from around the world, in addition to many ambassadors of African countries, tourism experts, travel agencies and tourism authorities from more than 30 countries in this forum. The importance of the forum is also reflected in the invitation of hundreds of experts and specialists in the field of tourism from dozens of European and Arab countries.
He pointed out that the countries of the African continent have enormous capabilities that will facilitate them to occupy the highest locations on the global tourism map, and the most prominent of these capabilities are thousands of kilometers of beaches and the best coastline in the world, hundreds of natural reserves, lakes, waterfalls and natural waterfalls, a picturesque environment, and a strong and enormous infrastructure, the most important of which is airlines. International, tens of thousands of kilometers of the best roads, hundreds of bridges and tunnels, and hotels of different levels and types that suit all levels of tourists, and one of these cities is the city of Sharm El Sheikh.
Dr. Yousry El-Sharkawy, President of the Egyptian-African Businessmen Association, said in his speech during the opening of the African Tourism Forum that this forum is a historic opportunity to enhance cooperation between African countries in the field of tourism and attract foreign investments.
He stressed that the African continent has enormous tourism potential, from stunning natural landscapes to rich historical and cultural sites, but we must work together to develop tourism infrastructure, promote African tourist destinations, and provide high-quality services to tourists.
For his part, Fattah Tamangi, founder of Rixos, said, “The African Tourism Forum is an important event that will contribute significantly to the development of the tourism sector on the African continent, and achieving sustainable development for the African people,” noting that Sharm El-Sheikh is considered one of the most important tourist destinations in Egypt and Africa.
Mr. Tamnji said, “For me personally, if I choose a tourist destination, I will choose Egypt because it has many tourist attractions and it is a country blessed with good weather throughout the year. There is also the El Alamein region, one of the best tourist destinations in the world.”
He added, “Egypt can achieve the number of 60 million tourists, not 10 million tourists.” Due to its distinctive tourism components, such as the rich Egyptian culture and pleasant weather throughout the year, as well as the human resources of Egyptian youth. .
After that, the first opening session of the first African Tourism Forum was held in the city of Sharm El-Sheikh, entitled “How to create a luxury brand.” The session was attended by Gaurav Bhushan, co-CEO of Ennismore and CEO of Lifestyle and Leisure Brands at Accor Hotels, and with the participation of Fattah Tamangi, founder of AccorHotels. Rixos
On the other hand, the African Tourism Forum program includes several diverse events and panel discussions: discussing important topics such as sustainable, cultural, and digital tourism, tourism investment, marketing, and human resources development in the field of tourism.
Workshops include topics such as starting a successful tourism business, using social media in marketing, creating engaging content, and providing excellent customer service.
The exhibition accompanying the forum includes the participation of tourism companies, hotels and tourist destinations from various parts of Africa.
The African Tourism Forum will continue tomorrow, May 21, with more panel discussions, workshops, presentations and bilateral meetings.
The forum aims to come up with concrete recommendations to enhance cooperation in the field of tourism between African countries and attract foreign investments. These recommendations are essential to ensure the sustainability of the tourism sector in Africa.
The African Tourism Forum is an important event that will contribute significantly to the development of the tourism sector on the African continent and the achievement of sustainable development for the African people.
