Ambassador Nasser Kamel probes means to activate cultural tourism to Egypt

Egyptian Ambassador in London Nasser Kamel met with marketing directors of 35 British tourism companies over lunch Tuesday.

Also present was John Casson, the British Ambassador to Egypt.

The meeting focused on efforts to promote travel to the Upper Egyptian cities of Luxor and Aswan.

Kamel wanted feedback about means to activate cultural tourism to Egypt.

He posted the marketing directors on positive developments regarding the flow of British tourism to Egypt, which increased by 20 percent in the first three months of 2015 compared to the same period last year.

Britain, Kamel said, is the second biggest exporter of tourists to Egypt, coming just after Russia.

Casson said his country has thoroughly studied the security and political situation in Egypt, assuring that Upper Egypt remains safe for British tourists.

Just recently Minya and Beni Suef, another two Upper Egyptian cities, have been included in the list of safe areas in Egypt, Casson said.

Kamel listened to recommendations to activate tourism.

One such recommendation was to introduce unique tourism activities that should be characteristic of Egyptian archaeological sites.

The marketing directors also suggested that Cairo hold a number of big cultural festivals in certain times throughout the year. Such festivals would help encourage tourists to visit the country, they noted.

They also agreed on the need to intensify the visit-Egypt campaigns on the international tourism market, especially with a world travel campaign due to be launched in August. This, they are convinced, would have a positive impact on Egyptian tourism.

Kamel stressed the need to take measures to activate and support charter airlines, as well as the national company, to increase flights to the Upper Egyptian city of Luxor.

He urged the British authorities to make travel warnings more clear in order to soothe fears, if any, British tourists have about Nile cruises in Luxor and Aswan.

He also agreed on the importance of outlining marketing campaigns to promote cultural events in Egypt, stressing Egypt has different tourism products that cater to every whim of all segments of potential tourists.