Egypt primed for growth

ABERCROMBIE & Kent’s Managing Director for Egypt and Middle East, Amr Badr, believes “Australia has room to grow” in Egypt amid an overall rebound in the country’s tourism sector.

Speaking to Travel Daily in Sydney last night as part of a national roadshow to promote A&K’s 2020 program, Badr said the luxury tour operator contributed nearly 40,000 tourists to Egypt per year, however, Australia had struggled to keep pace with that trend.

“The Australian market has been a little quiet for some reason, we have had more tourists from Australia going to Egypt in the past - we haven’t been seeing enough of those people recently and that’s maybe an area that should be revisited,” Badr conceded.

“I think maybe the perception about Egypt is that because the country had a difficult time after 2011, the perception is that security is not on the right path, but it is absolutely on the right path, it’s just a question of whether Australia knows that or not,” he added.

Despite Aussies expressing safety concerns, Badr said A&K was not in the business of selling a safety message as such, it was more about putting forward the positive aspects of its tours to the destination.

“It’s up to us to sell reality, the reality is that Egypt is safe, Egypt is open for business and [visitor] numbers are the best certificate to validate what I’m saying.

“Numbers have gone to 12 million from six million and that is only going to increase”.

A&K’s roadshow will continue around the country, with key representatives in town to market its packages in regions such as Europe and South America.

Pictured: A&K’s MD for Egypt and Middle East Amr Badr in Sydney last night.