CAIRO: Egypt has been chosen as the guest of honor at the TC-Tourism Caravanning exhibition, which will be held in Germany in November, Director of the Egyptian tourism office in Berlin Tamer Marzouk said.
“The choice reflects Egypt’s significance as an all-year-round destination that occupies a firm place in world-wide tourism,” Marzouk was quoted by the state news agency MENA Thursday.
Scheduled to be held in Germany’s Leipzig Exhibition Center for five days from Nov. 18-22, the TC-Tourism Caravaning November is a “platform for presenting Egypt on the German market and on international markets as a holiday destination with a wide choice of tourism attractions, Marzouk said.
According to MENA, more than 50 countries will participate in the exhibition, which will be opened by the governor of Germany’s federal state of Saxony-Anhalt.
“It is a business to business as well as business to customer conference that aims to boost Egypt’s ailing cultural tourism and attracts Germany’s major tourism operators,” Chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority Mahmoud Sami was quoted by Al Ahram Thursday.
Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou said the event is expected to increase tourism revenues by 4 million euro ($5.1 million) every year, according to Al Ahram. He added that the ministry will also host the 2016 International Tourism Bourse Berlin (ITB Berlin), the world’s largest tourism trade fair.
Egypt’s revenues from tourism have witnessed a sharp decline following the 2011 uprising. Tourism, Egypt’s second most important source of national income after the Suez Canal, provides direct and indirect employment to up to 12.6 percent of the country’s workforce.