06/10/2020
Services for air carriers at the resort airports of Egypt — first of all, Hurghada and South Sinai — will be significantly cheaper. This was stated by the Minister of Civil Aviation Mohammad Manar Enaba — according to him, the ministry will provide airlines with discounts on certain services at the airports of South Sinai, Hurghada and Matruh, namely 50% discount on boarding and parking, as well as 20% discount on ground handling.
This statement was made with an eye to tourism, as it was made during a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled El-Anani, and it was about incentives to encourage inbound tourism after the Egyptian Cabinet of Ministers decides to resume international flights.
In addition, during the meeting, the ministers noted that the Oil Ministry agreed last month to cut jet fuel prices, bringing the total cost of the cut to 10 cents a gallon. This reduction will take effect as soon as air traffic returns on a permanent basis throughout the country. First of all, we will talk about flights that «link» cultural tourism along the Nile Valley with coastal tourism in the Red Sea, i.e. on flights from Sharm el Sheikh to Luxor, which began in February, before the pandemic developed.
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, in turn, offered EgyptAir passengers traveling on international flights a 20% discount on entrance tickets to museums and archaeological sites throughout the country.
At the end of the meeting, Enaba stressed the readiness of Egyptian airports to receive tourists. He stressed that all precautions and preventions will be applied in accordance with the instructions of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Egyptian Ministry of Health.
Note that the current situation has to «update» and one more February initiative. In February, the Alliance of Travel Agencies (ATA) sent a letter about the opening of Egypt addressed to the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin: “Dear Mikhail Vladimirovich, we ask you to instruct the interested ministries and departments with the participation of representatives of the professional tourism market to develop and approve an action plan for the resumption of flights between The Russian Federation and the Arab Republic of Egypt, ”the letter says (the text of the letter is at the disposal of the editorial staff of Turprom).
The letter goes on to provide detailed arguments for the urgent need to open Egypt. “Taking into account the geographical position and climatic features of Russia, during the autumn-winter season, the main flow of tourists choosing a beach holiday is directed to foreign resorts in the tropical and subtropical zones. One of such destinations is the countries of North Africa, including Egypt, trips to which were for many years one of the most popular among Russians due to the affordable cost and variety of cultural and entertainment programs, «Natalia Osipova, executive director of ATA, explained to the correspondent of the TURPROM information group. …
At the same time, as the Alliance emphasizes, rest in Egyptian resorts is not competitive with respect to ski tourism, which is popular in Russia in winter, as well as cultural, educational and sanatorium-resort rest, since these types of tourism have different target audiences, presenting different requirements for the properties of a tourist product. “Currently, the Egyptian destination does not lose its relevance for Russian tourists, but to visit the Country of the Pyramids, our citizens choose alternative flights to the airports of Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh through neighboring countries and foreign tour operators. At the same time, the Russian tourism industry loses a significant amount of revenue, and the state budget receives significant amounts of tax revenues that could be paid by Russian tour operators and travel agents if they form and implement tours to Egypt, ”the source said. You can read more about the letter on Egypt at this link.
Time «after the pandemic» allows us to return to this issue …
Recall that Russian tour operators have resumed the sale of tours to both Russian resorts and Turkey, and even to Europe, although tours to foreign resorts are still offered only for autumn-winter 20/21 and next summer 21 years. Egypt is not on this list yet. However, everyone is waiting for the go-ahead from the authorities, hoping that Mediterranean programs from Russia will resume from mid-July, as the Turkish Minister of Tourism predicts. So, TEZ TOUR started selling tours to Turkey, Greece, Spain and Cyprus at half price, a little later sales to Bolgarib and Italib were launched — read this link for details, and TUI began selling tours to Spanish resorts from 15 Russian cities — read more here. To see the new significantly reduced prices of Russian tour operators in all popular destinations and even book them right away, we recommend using this tour aggregator.
+20 106 930 3640 Contact us
Skype: Hurghada RedSeaLine