Sunny, hot days return to Egyptian tourism industry

Travelers put up tents in the desert in Egypt to admire the landscape.[Photo provided to China Daily]

However, following the consolidation of power by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who replaced Morsi, many analysts and diplomats see a period of relative stability enforced by security forces and aided by widespread weariness with political turmoil.

Tourism Minister Hisham Zazou has been quoted as saying that there is a perception that Egypt is embarking on a different path and a period of stability will start to be recognized, resulting in a resurgence in tourism.

He says he is hopeful that the number of tourists will grow 20 percent this year and 20 percent next year.

The Egyptian government sees the Chinese market as highly important. In December, Sisi visited China and attended an Egyptian tourism seminar with Li Jinzao, chairman of the China National Tourism Administration, and discussed with local travel agencies how to attract more Chinese tourists to Egypt.

Shaarawy said this year will be particularly important for Egypt in the Chinese market because it will be a test of whether the number of Chinese tourists to Egypt can continue rising, and he outlined a series of campaigns aimed at the Chinese market.

The new Air Leisure flights are likely to add impetus to the surge in tourists. In addition, Egypt Air, the country's flagship carrier, plans to launch direct flights from Cairo to Shanghai in the first half of the year, in addition to its three weekly direct flights between Beijing and Cairo and five weekly flights between Guangzhou and Cairo.

Egypt is looking to charter flights to open the markets of Chinese second- and third-tier cities, because the number of people from these cities who are opting for Egypt as a holiday destination is growing much more quickly than the number of those in first-tier cities.

However, Shaarawy acknowledged that his country will need help in meeting its targets.

"We've facilitated group visas, which take only two working days to process, and we hope to have facilities for individual visas later. I'd like to ask the Chinese government to support the Egyptian government to give landing visas."

Egypt agreed on this in 2012, he said, and it is waiting for the go-ahead from the Chinese government. New tourism projects such as expansion of infrastructure are being speeded up.