The Tourism Ministry refuted erroneous reports on some websites alleging that the Egyptian tourism promotion campaign in Italy was weak.

In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry stressed that it is exerting, alongside the Egyptian Tourist Authority, strenuous efforts to restore tourism in Egypt and open new markets.

The ministry lauded an initiative launched by an Italian businessman who hosted 108 Italians – who were affected by the Rome earthquake – in Sharm el Sheikh.

The promotion campaign was launched after the Egyptian tourist office in Rome held a meeting with key Italian travel agencies that lauded that campaign.

The statement added that the campaign focused on cities that have charter flights to Sharm el Sheikh and Marsa Alam.

The campaign reached 7 million Italians via Facebook- about 40 percent of Facebook users - and 2.58 million of Instagram users.

The statement stressed that it spared no efforts to boost tourism after it dwindled over the killing of Italian student Giulio Regeni in Egypt.

The statement added that tourism started to recover as statistics recorded a 30 percent rise in November, 2016 against October 2016.

Source: MENA