- Title: Egypt must work harder to revive tourism after EgyptAir crash- minister
- Date: 22nd May 2016
- Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (MAY 22, 2016) (REUTERS) EGYPTIAN TOURISM MINISTER, YEHIA RASHED, SEATED IN OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) EGYPTIAN TOURISM MINISTER, YEHIA RASHED, SAYING: "It's very early to say but I don't presume that we will have cancellations. This is an incident. Tourism in the world is been impacted for many reasons other than this incident so we need to focus on the positive side of it and how we drive more business."
- Embargoed: 6th June 2016 21:01
- Keywords: EgyptAir plane crash Yehia Rashed tourism Egypt
- Location: CAIRO, EGYPT / AT SEA
- City: CAIRO, EGYPT / AT SEA
- Country: Egypt
- Topics: Air Accidents,Disaster/Accidents
- Reuters ID: LVA0024IW3EIV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Egypt will have to work 10 times harder to revive its tourism industry, Tourism Minister Yehia Rashed said on Sunday (May 22), after a series of setbacks including the crash of an EgyptAir flight into the Mediterranean three days ago.
All 66 people on board the plane are believed to have died and the reason for the crash is not yet clear.
Rashed sought to play down the impact of the crash on Egypt's image and said it was too soon to gauge the impact of Thursday's (May 19) crash on future arrivals.
"It's very early to say but I don't presume that we will have cancellations. This is an incident. Tourism in the world is been impacted for many reasons other than this incident so we need to focus on the positive side of it and how we drive more business," said Rashed from his office overlooking the River Nile.
"The efforts that we need to put may be 10 times as we've planned to put in place but we need to focus on our ability to drive business back to Egypt, to change the image of Egypt," he added.
Egypt's tourism industry, a cornerstone of the economy and a critical source of hard currency, has struggled to rebound since the 2011 uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule ushered in a period of political and economic upheaval.
Egypt has lurched from crisis to crisis in recent months, straining the tourism sector and the economy as a whole.
The number of tourists fell 40 percent in the first quarter of 2016 compared to last year due in large part to the downing of a Russian plane carrying 224 people from a Red Sea resort in late October.
Islamic State said it had smuggled a bomb aboard and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called the incident an 'act of terrorism'.
Then, in March, a man wearing a fake suicide belt hijacked an EgyptAir plane and diverted it to Cyprus.
Rashed said the incidents were not linked and argued that EgyptAir's management of the crises had boosted confidence in the Egyptian flag carrier.
Following the Russian plane bombing, British and Russian airlines suspended flights to Sharm al-Sheikh, which was popular with holidaymakers seeking winter sun, until they are satisfied with improvements to airport security. The ban has held back any recovery.
Rashed urged for bans to be lifted in order for people to travel freely.
"People in the world need to separate tourism from politics. People need to take their hands off any bans they do on travel. We need to give comfort to people that they can travel easily, they can travel accessibly and, you know, they can enjoy themselves. Tourism is a lifestyle and you cannot take this away from the human," he told Reuters.
More than 14.7 million tourists visited Egypt in 2010, dropping to 9.8 million in 2011. Last month, Rashed told Reuters the country hoped to attract 12 million tourists back by the end of 2017, with a six point plan. He said on Sunday that plan was going head.
Asked how Thursday's crash might affect tourism revenues, Rashed declined to give forecasts. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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