Egypt tourism minister sets out 2020 growth plan

Egyptian Tourism Minister Khaled Rami speaks during an interview with Reuters in Sharm el-Sheikh, in the South Sinai governorate, south of Cairo, March 15, 2015. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

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Egypt hopes to generate $20 billion in revenue from tourism by 2020 by attracting 20 million visitors, new Tourism Minister Khaled Ramy said Sunday at an international investment conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Ramy told Reuters that goal was part of strategic plans that include creating two new resorts through nearly $1 billion of investment over five years and hiring a private company to run a three-year advertising campaign.

He said he wanted to counteract the negative news of the last few years that has hampered tourism, a major source of revenue and foreign reserves for Egypt.

More than 14.7 million tourists visited Egypt in 2010, dropping to 9.8 million in 2011. Numbers rose the following year to 11.5 million but shrank back to about 10 million last year.

Ramy said he expected numbers to grow by 15 percent this year.

“The message is right on my face: it’s seven o'clock in the morning and we already have this beautiful sunshine here in Sharm el-Sheikh,” he said in a poolside interview at a luxury hotel.

Ramy, 56, was appointed minister this month in a cabinet reshuffle.

He said Egypt was on track to have enough hotel rooms to accommodate 20 million tourists, but needed investment in restaurants and shopping malls.

Egypt will seek investment for two new projects, Ramy said: an 8 million square meter resort on the Red Sea worth 5 billion Egyptian pounds and a 1 million square meter resort on the Mediterranean worth 2.5 billion pounds.

Ramy said the ministry would use its $40 million-a-year marketing budget to contract a global advertising campaign this summer.

Asked what the government was doing to secure tourists, Ramy pointed to heavy security for the weekend conference.

"I don't think even a rat from the desert could come in and do anything," he said.