Egypt aims to attract 2% of visitors through e-marketing

The tourism ministry signed a cooperation protocol with search engine Google at the end of May to promote 15 types of tourism in Egypt, said Chairman of the International Tourism Sector at the General Authority for Tourism Ahmed Shoukry.

“E-marketing for tourism to Egypt is a great way to increase to presence within markets and to attract new tourist demographics to Egypt, especially young people,” he added.

According to Shoukry, Egypt aims to attract 2% of incoming tourists annually through the internet by using online reservations with airlines and hotels.

He added that approximately 50 million people have visited Egypt’s website so far, and that number is expected to increase to 100 million monthly.

The marketing campaigns launched by the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with Google include the Arab countries, which represent 20% of the incoming tourism traffic, and the nations of Europe, which represent 72%.

Using modern means to market in Egypt is a new concept that is spreading thanks to the efforts of the Ministry of Tourism and foreign hotel management companies, according to Hossam Darwish, Coordinator of E-Marketing at the Arab Tourism Organization of the Arab League.

Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou signed a cooperation protocol with Visa for electronic payments at the beginning of the month.

Zaazou said he felt that Egypt had an opportunity to attract arrivals comprising 4% of the total amount of incoming tourists to Egypt each year in light of the sector’s expansion through new means of marketing, whether they be employed by airlines, hotels or tour companies.

“Online bookings for airline tickets require time and effort and we must also ration expenses,” said Hassan Aziz, Chairman of the Egyptian Federation for Private Aviation, adding that airlines are expanding the use of online bookings. This has taken place in light of their expanding within the markets in which they are located, whether that be in Europe or the Arab world.