Outbound

Egypt to sign tourism agreement with India

Invites investors, encourages tie ups

Anupama Sushil - New Delhi

India and Egypt have had an amicable relationship from the time it first made its foray into India and over the past years, numerous efforts have been made to promote Egypt, furthered by the increasing interest of Indian tourists in Egypt. This has led to relatively good numbers of business and leisure tourists to Egypt from India. Egypt last year saw about 84,000 Indian visitors during the peak season. The majority of the segment comprises leisure tourists, while MICE and business tourism remains at about 30 per cent. Taking the existing relationship further, Samy Mahmoud, tourism counselor of the Egyptian consulate tourism office said that the Egyptian tourism authorities plans to sign a tourism agreement with India later this month. The agreement will look at creating increased awareness about the respective countries. The year would also see more cities being added to the loop with resorts like Luxor in the offing.

It would also look at enhancing the travel trade relations by offering them assistance. In this regard, Egyptian authorities are eagerly looking forward to welcoming Indian investors to Egypt - be it in hospitality or tourism and even tour operators and agents. The Egyptian tourism office, he said, would act as a facilitator if there are any interested parties. Though the interest in India is a little low from the Egyptian side, there are hopes that the signing of the agreement will serve to change this, said the tourism counselor.

While the agreement will cover the main points of trade, it will also concentrate on exchanging knowledge, expertise and experience for human resource development. The arrangement will determine that Egyptian tourism students are able to take their tourism training in India and vice-versa for Indian students who aim to work there.