The event provided room for open dialogue between the ETF board of directors and present members of the press, where many popular issues on the tourism arena were raised for discussion. When asked about the role and effectiveness of the ETF over the past year, Ahmed El Nahas, ETF Chairman, pointed out key achievements outlined in the report distributed at the conference, saying that it surely reflects “the great amount of developmental activities done to better the tourism industry in Egypt” and asking the activities to be compared with those of previous years. As many of the ongoing projects are planned and executed in cooperation with the ministry, he also referred to a recent press interview with H.E. Zoheir Garranah, Egyptian Minister of Tourism, where Minister Garranah expressed his satisfaction with the amount of cooperation between the ministry and ETF in this regard.

Many questions were raised and top of the list of most journalists was how the ETF plans to respond to the threats of the swine flu to tourism. Addressing the issue El Nahas says “it’s difficult to predict how the Swine flu issue will evolve, yet we do what we can in terms of medical preparedness and health precautions in hotels and tourism establishments in order to minimize the impact of this crisis”. Adel Abdel Razek, ETF Board Member, further commented “The ministry of tourism is keeping a watchful eye on the issue and we in turn will keep observing the phenomenon, we are waiting to see the condition of returning pilgrims and will set up a meeting with ministry of health after Eid.”

Raising awareness for tourism among the general public was another area of interest, where El Nahas discussed the Karma Project, involving conducting a survey among tourists coming to Egypt on how they feel about their visit and what types of problems they face during their stay. “Many complain of sexual harassment, hustling, unfair treatment, and complicated procedures, the key notion that we need to instill in anyone dealing with tourists is that if we treat tourists fairly, we will all ultimately win”, said El Nahas. The Federation is using this research in order to actively tackle social issues and combine it into socialization campaigns.

With regard to questions on the decline of Arab tourism in the summer in comparison to last year, ETF Vice President Dr. Nader El Biblawi commented saying, “As a professional business sector, we are exerting much effort in dealing with this problem. We have to understand that Ramadan being in the summer is a key issue in this decline, as many Arab tourists prefer not to make any travel plans during the holy month, yet we will keep trying to work around the issue in coming years”.

When asked about the main issues currently on the ETF’s agenda, El Nahas mentioned the growing problems caused by bazaars and restaurants that are operating without being members in their respective chambers. Wagdi El Kirdany, ETF Board Member and chairman of the Egyptian Chamber of Tourist Establishments, expressed his concern “The problem lies within the actions of non-member establishments which have a negative impact on tourism, such as imposing a minimum charge in non-member restaurants, especially those located in shopping malls and targeting Arab customers. These restaurants are operating illegally and I have conducted a study and presented it to the minister of tourism regarding this issue and mechanisms to get non-member establishments to acquire membership and operate under the jurisdiction of the chamber.”

In turn, Mohamed El Kattan, ETF Board Member and chairman of the Egyptian Chamber of Tourism Commodities (ECTE), complained of the issue of non-member bazaars and shops. “There are about 17,000 bazaars and shops currently operating, while only 1,500 of them are registered in the chamber. Many problems arise from this situation that ultimately results in damaging our reputation as a destination and turn tourists away. Unregistered shops are difficult to keep track of and collect data about, therefore there is no one to be held accountable when these shops are used as a façade for unlawful or shady practices,” El Kattan said. “We need to do everything in our power to put an end to this, including courses to raise awareness of the issue as well as a large campaign against the existence of such entities”, he further commented.

The event was also attended by Mohamed Badr, Information and Monitoring Advisor to the Minister of Tourism; Omayma El Hosseini, Media Advisor and Official Spokesperson to the Minister of Tourism; ETF Board Members Ali Ghoneim and Khaled El Shaer; Hala El Khatib, Secretary General of the Egyptian Hotels Association; in addition to members of local press and television stations. Attendees later gathered for Ramadan Iftar, which marked the successful ending to the press conference.