Egypt will host a travel trade show to boost post-Covid-19 recovery and promote itself as a tourist destination.
The Gate Travel Expo, taking place from September 6 to 9 in Cairo, is expected to attract more than 10,000 visitors and 200 companies from at least 56 countries, organisers said.
“Egypt deserves to be on the world tourism map in a much bigger way,” said Amr El Kady, chief executive of the government's Egyptian Tourism Promotion Board, at an event unveiling the show on Monday evening.
“It will put a spotlight on Egypt. At the same time, it is important to organise many different types of conferences in the country,” he said.
The North African country will also be hosting the UN Cop27 climate change conference in Sharm El Sheikh in November.
Tourism has started to recover globally with the easing of travel restrictions, now that 60 per cent of the world’s population is vaccinated against Covid-19 and countries have largely adapted to living with the pandemic.
Destinations welcomed almost three times as many international arrivals in the first quarter of 2022 compared to 2021, according to the UN World Trade Organisation.
However, international tourist arrivals were still 61 per cent below pre-pandemic 2019 levels over the same period.
A challenging economic environment coupled with the Russia-Ukraine war “pose a downside risk to the ongoing recovery of international tourism”, the UNWTO said.
Egypt welcomed just 3.6 million tourists in 2020, less than a quarter of the number who visited in 2019, as the pandemic wiped out $17.6 billion from the country’s economy and caused the loss of 844,000 travel and tourism jobs that year.
The Russia-Ukraine war has also badly affected the tourism sector, with Russian and Ukrainian tourists normally accounting for at least a third of the 10 million-plus visitors to Egypt.
Last year, Egypt put on a couple of high-profile events to spark media attention and publicity, including the Pharaohs' Golden Parade of 22 royal mummies through the streets of Cairo and the reopening of Luxor’s Avenue of Sphinxes. It has also touted the highly anticipated Grand Egyptian Museum, which is scheduled to open later this year.
The country’s tourism and antiquities ministry has been highlighting archaeological discoveries, such as the latest find of 250 sarchophagi and 150 bronze statuettes in Saqqara.
“These discoveries are very important because they will bring back cultural tourism to Egypt,” famed Egyptologist Zahi Hawass said at the event via Zoom.
“2022 will be a very important year for the whole world,” he said, highlighting the 100-year anniversary since the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb on November 4. It is rumoured the GEM’s opening will coincide with the anniversary.
Mr Hawass said he would be happy to participate in the tourism expo and use the opportunity to further publicise Egypt’s archaeological finds.
Egypt is keen to promote other types of tourism as well, such as extreme sports.
Ahmed Abdullah, chief executive of Skydive Pharaohs, said the company will take part in the expo to increase sports tourism.
The idea behind Skydive Pharaohs was to “see the treasures of Egypt from another view”, he said.
They organise skydiving events over famous sites, such as the Pyramids of Giza, and will be going to Alamein on the north coast, Sharm El Sheikh and Marsa Alam this year.
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Ministry of Youth and Sports are the main government entities backing the GTE.
The expo will take place at the historic Qubba palace and gardens in Cairo, which has an estimated area of 190 acres. The palace was built between 1867 and 1872 during the reign of Khedive Ismail.
The countries participating so far are mainly from Europe, Asia and Africa, and include the UAE.
Other major tourism trade shows in the region include the Arabian Travel Market at the Dubai World Trade Centre, which welcomed more than 23,000 visitors and 1,500 exhibitors in May.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
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Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
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The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
Manchester City transfers:
OUTS
Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy, Willy Caballero and Jesus Navas (all released)
INS
Ederson (Benfica) £34.7m, Bernardo Silva (Monaco) £43m
ON THEIR WAY OUT?
Joe Hart, Eliaquim Mangala, Samir Nasri, Wilfried Bony, Fabian Delph, Nolito and Kelechi Iheanacho
ON THEIR WAY IN?
Dani Alves (Juventus), Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal)
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
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The lowdown
Badla
Rating: 2.5/5
Produced by: Red Chillies, Azure Entertainment
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Amrita Singh, Tony Luke
MATCH INFO
Newcastle United 1 (Carroll 82')
Leicester City 2 (Maddison 55', Tielemans 72')
Man of the match James Maddison (Leicester)
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Mubalada World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule
Thursday December 27
Men's quarter-finals
Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm
Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm
Women's exhibition
Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm
Friday December 28
5th place play-off 3pm
Men's semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm
Saturday December 29
3rd place play-off 5pm
Men's final 7pm
Racecard
6pm: Mina Hamriya – Handicap (TB) $75,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
6.35pm: Al Wasl Stakes – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (Turf) 1,200m
7.10pm: UAE Oaks – Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,900m
7.45pm: Blue Point Sprint – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,000m
8.20pm: Nad Al Sheba Trophy – Group 3 (TB) $200,000 (T) 2,810m
8.55pm: Mina Rashid – Handicap (TB) $80,000 (T) 1,600m
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Keane on …
Liverpool’s Uefa Champions League bid: “They’re great. With the attacking force they have, for me, they’re certainly one of the favourites. You look at the teams left in it - they’re capable of scoring against anybody at any given time. Defensively they’ve been good, so I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t go on and win it.”
Mohamed Salah’s debut campaign at Anfield: “Unbelievable. He’s been phenomenal. You can name the front three, but for him on a personal level, he’s been unreal. He’s been great to watch and hopefully he can continue now until the end of the season - which I’m sure he will, because he’s been in fine form. He’s been incredible this season.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s instant impact at former club LA Galaxy: “Brilliant. It’s been a great start for him and for the club. They were crying out for another big name there. They were lacking that, for the prestige of LA Galaxy. And now they have one of the finest stars. I hope they can go win something this year.”
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Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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