Minister of Tourism Hisham Zazou met with German Ambassador Goetze Clemens von on the sideline of International Tourism Bourse (ITB) currently conducted in Berlin. They discussed the recent warning issued by the German Foreign Ministry advising German tourists not to visit Egypt after the recent bombings in Taba.
The Egyptian minister said that the warnings was made to coincide with the preparation of the tourism sector in Egypt to participate in Berlin’s ITB. He said the measure was surprisingly before announcing the plans adopted by the government to secure the tourist areas and tourists.
Zazou expressed his astonishment over the hard-liner tone adopted during drafting the warning, that it provided a false image about the situation in Egypt. He blamed the German measure for the state of panic that dominated the travel agencies. This approach negatively affected the tourist sector in Egypt and pushed other 11 EU countries to do the same.
He said terrorism could threaten any country worldwide and the Egyptian government gives priority to securing tourists of all nationalities. Zazou and Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim visited Taba and Sharm Al-Sheikh after the recent bombing in Taba to review the security measures in the touristic areas.
Zazou said the ministry is keen to coordinate with the Ministry of Interior to activate security plans to secure the touristic areas. He said the security forces work to prevent any terrorist elements from infiltrating Sharm el-Sheikh.
He said a British delegation visited Sharm Al-Sheikh recently and he met with them and briefed them on the security situation, made plans to secure the tourists in South Sinai. He said the UK did not issue a warning to prevent its tourists from visiting Egypt.
He called on the German diplomatic institution to review its warning as soon as possible before the summer season and Easter vacations, when inbound tourism usually increases by 73 percent. He asked the German official to convey his invitation to the German security institution to send a delegation to visit the touristic resorts in Egypt to assess the security situation and measures taken to secure the tourists.
The German diplomat stressed his country’s commitment to support Egypt’s economy by supporting the tourism industry. The German Foreign Ministry realizes the keenness of German tourists to visit Egypt.
He promised Germany will send a security delegation to visit Sharm Al-Sheikh and review the warning issued by the German Foreign Ministry as soon as possible in response to the request of the Egyptian official. He expressed his hope that Egyptians will achieve their aspirations by executing the roadmap.
