Chairman of the Cultural Tourism Marketing Committee and vice president of the chamber of tourism companies in Luxor Mohamed Othman called on Mohammed Salah to visit Luxor city, in a bid to encourage tourism.
“Luxor is waiting for you and your family to see the greatness of your country,” he said.
Egypt has yet to receive its fair share of African tourism, Othman added, saying that the presence of football stars in the Africa Cup of Nations would be an important opportunity to promote tourist destinations, especially cultural tourism.
In a statement Monday, Othman said that the marketing committee has an initiative to promote cultural tourism through tourism programs concerning the international players participating in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
Othman said he discussed ways to implement the initiative with officials, even with the lack of time.
He added that the tournament’s mascot, representing a young King Tutankhamun, would hopefully draw more attention to Pharaonic tourist attractions.
Othman stressed the necessity of taking advantage of the presence of these football stars in Egypt, alongside publishing visual content of various destinations on social media pages, in order to promote the country’s tourism.
He asserted the importance of taking advantage of the Africa tournament, through organizing tourist programs that combine adventure, entertainment and cultural tourism. According to Othman, World Development Indicators for 2018 confirmed that the percentage of incoming tourism to the African continent doubled between 2000 and 2016 and that the rate of tourism expenditure increased by 150 percent in that time.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
