Minister Zaazou pledges new charter subsidies
Almasalla,Gate Arab Tourism News- Egypt will again subsidise charter flights this winter to maintain air connections and secure an emerging comeback for the country, tourism minister Hisham Zaazou announced at last week s fvw Kongress.
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After a disappointing first half-year, tourism is starting to pick up again in Egypt, according to government statistics. The number of German visitors dropped by 23% in the first half of the year. But volumes rose by 16% in July, for example, and by as much as 76% in August, although this was in comparison to a heavy slump last year.
Zaazou said he hopes the overall number of German tourists this year will top last year’s figure of 850,000 after reaching a total of 550,000 between January and August. Next year he is targeting the figure of 1.3 million German tourists, which would bring the country back to the pre-crisis level last seen in 2010.
The tourism ministry now aims to secure this comeback by introducing a new incentive programme for charter flights. But it is changing the former programme which subsidised flights which had a load factor of at least 40%, and effectively only paid for empty seats.
Instead, from November onwards, Egypt will reward airlines for higher load factors by paying incentives for load factors of between 50% and 90%. Airlines will receive €24 per seat for flights to Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh, Marsa Alam and the Mediterranean coast, and €31 per seat for longer flights. “This way we are moving away from an insurance system and are rewarding successful tour operators,” the minister explained. In addition, subsidies for flights to Luxor, Assuan and Taba will be slightly higher to support those destinations which have been particularly hard hit.
In parallel, Zaazou hopes that tourists will in future not only just holiday at the Red Sea resorts but go further afield. “Egypt offers more than sun and beach,” he told conference delegates. Responding to fears about safety in Cairo and the Nile region, he stressed: “Egypt is safe.”
Looking ahead, Zaazou outlined new tourism projects such as expansion of the infrastructure on the Mediterranean coastline. The number of hotel beds there could be doubled from just 7,000 at present to some 15,000 in the next five years, he said.
Source : fvw news
