Sunny, hot days return to Egyptian tourism

Visits by Chinese to the land of the pyramids clear clouds over industry

It is one of the driest and hottest places on Earth, but for the past few years it is as though the Egyptian city of Aswan has been shrouded in a winter mist, cold-shouldered, like the rest of the country, by the world's tourists.

But on Feb 16 more than 250 Chinese Spring Festival holidaymakers flew into Aswan from Shanghai, a harbinger of better days for Egypt's battered tourism industry.

It was the first direct flight from China to Aswan, on the Nile River, and over the next few days the city welcomed more Chinese, from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, and Shenzhen, Guangdong province. All were passengers on inaugural charter flights put on by the Egyptian airline Air Leisure, which says the flights were 90 percent full.

The Chinese Spring Festival holiday is the busiest season for Chinese traveling to Egypt.

"We now have three weekly charter flights from Shanghai, Chengdu and Shenzhen to Aswan," says Abualmaaty Shaarawy, tourism counselor at the Egyptian embassy in Beijing. "Our plan is to have two more, from Beijing and Wuhan, capital of Hubei province."

All flights are direct, and there will also be direct flights between China and Cairo, he says, adding that he hopes the charter flights will bolster a surge of tourists from China to Egypt after a grim three years.

The Egyptian embassy's tourism office says 65,000 Chinese visited Egypt last year, putting China outside the country's top markets.

Russians form the largest group visiting the country as tourists, 3 million doing so last year, followed by Germany.

"We aim to attract 200,000 Chinese tourists to Egypt this year, making China our sixth largest overseas market," Shaarawy says. "China has a huge tourism market, so we have a chance."

The influx of Chinese tourists to Aswan last month is not the only reason for Egypt's growing confidence about China as a source of tourists. The sheer number of Chinese now going overseas on holiday is a dazzling prospect for tourist operators everywhere.

Last year 109 million Chinese went on holiday abroad, 19.5 percent more than the year before and nearly 13 times the number in 1998. In 2013, Chinese tourists spent $129 billion abroad, more than any other source market. China is the world's largest outbound market, the China National Tourism Administration says.

Shaarawy says a target of 200,000 Chinese tourists for Egypt represents a fraction of 1 percent of the global number so ought to be easily attainable.

Egypt's rich and long history is tantalizing for Chinese tourists, he says, and over the past 14 years the country has been a big draw card for them. That attraction reached its zenith in 2010 when 106,000 Chinese visited the country.

But over the next three years the numbers fell sharply, and it was only last year that they began to recover.

There was a "remarkable recovery" in Egypt's tourism industry in the second half of last year, "especially during holiday seasons in the beach resorts", the Financial Times of London quoted Christian Muhr, vice-president of Egypt operations for Hilton Hotels, as saying. Hilton owns 18 properties in the country. "The forecasts for 2015 are promising as well," Muhr said.

Tourist arrivals rose nearly 70 percent in the third quarter of last year compared with the previous corresponding period, says Egypt's Ministry of Tourism. Arrivals in September rose 193 percent compared with September 2013, with 884,000 arrivals compared with 301,000.

For the Egyptian tourist industry this is all very deja vu.

Numbers slumped in 2011 during the civil unrest that led to Hosni Mubarak being ousted as president after ruling the country for 30 years.

They picked up slightly in early 2012 after parliamentary elections and rebounded further in June that year after the Islamist president Mohamed Morsi was elected.

But a year later he was overthrown in a coup that sparked deadly clashes in Cairo and other parts of the country, and tourist numbers dived once again.

However, following the consolidation of power by president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who replaced him, many analysts and diplomats see a period of relative stability enforced by security forces and aided by widespread weariness with political turmoil.

There is a growing sense of optimism in Egypt that its tourism fortunes are returning after several difficult years, they say.

Tourism Minister Hisham Zazou has been quoted as saying that there is a perception that Egypt is embarking on a different path and a period of stability will start to be recognized, resulting in a resurgence in tourism.

He says he is hopeful that the number of tourists will grow 20 percent this year and 20 percent next year.

The Egyptian government sees the Chinese market as highly important. In December, Sisi visited China and attended an Egyptian tourism seminar with Li Jinzao, chairman of the China National Tourism Administration, and discussed with local travel agencies how to attract more Chinese tourists to Egypt.

Shaarawy says this year will be particularly important for Egypt in the Chinese market because it will be a test of whether it can continue rising, and he outlined a series of campaigns aimed at the Chinese market.

The new Air Leisure flights are likely to add impetus to the surge in tourists. In addition, Egypt Air, the country's flagship carrier, plans to launch direct flights from Cairo to Shanghai in the first half of the year, in addition to its three weekly direct flights between Beijing and Cairo and five weekly flights between Guangzhou and Cairo.

Egypt is looking to charter flights to open the markets of Chinese second-tier cities, because the number of people from these and third-tier cities who are opting for Egypt as a holiday destination is growing much more quickly than the number of those in first-tier cities.

However, Shaarawy acknowledges that his country will need help in meeting its targets.

"We've facilitated group visas, which take only two working days to process, and we hope to have facilities for individual visas later. I'd like to ask the Chinese government to support the Egyptian government to give landing visas."

Egypt agreed on this in 2012, he says, and it is waiting for the go-ahead from the Chinese government.

New tourism projects such as expansion of infrastructure are being speeded up to meet the expected influx of Chinese tourists.

"Hotels are under construction, including a four-star hotel in which a Chinese company has invested," Shaarawy says.

"Staff in shops, hotels and restaurants are also being trained to provide Chinese-language services."

UnionPay, China's largest bankcard brand, is available in Egypt, making it more convent for Chinese to spend, he says.

A number of countries still warn their citizens about traveling to Egypt, particularly because of fears of terrorist attacks, but Shaarawy says: "Egypt is safe. The government is doing its best to reduce risks to visitors. We take great care of tourist destinations, and no one can touch them."

Egyptian tourism authorities say that last year the industry accounted for 11.3 percent of the country's GDP.

lijing2009@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 03/13/2015 page19)