After the end of his official visit to Ukraine, Dr. Khaled Al-Anani, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, headed to the Belarusian capital, Minsk, to hold a number of official meetings and meetings in order to continue the official visit that he started on Wednesday, at the head of an Egyptian tourist delegation that includes the President of the Egyptian Federation of Tourist Rooms Chamber of Tourism Companies, President of the Red Sea Investors Association, President of South Sinai Investors Association, and Ambassador Majed Musleh, supervisor of the Central Department for International and Public Relations at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
The Minister started his official meetings today with the meeting of Sergei Kovalchuk, Belarusian Minister of Sports and Tourism, which lasted for more than an hour, during which they discussed ways to enhance cooperation between the two countries in the field of the tourism sector.
The meeting was attended by members of the Egyptian delegation accompanying the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, and from the Belarusian side a number of representatives of the various sectors of the relevant country, such as aviation, hotels, tourism and transportation.
Sergei Kovalchuk, Belarusian Minister of Sports and Tourism, thanked Dr. Khaled Al-Anani for this visit, as it is the first visit of an Egyptian Minister of Tourism to Belarus.
The Belarusian minister spoke about the close friendship between the two countries on the political, cultural and tourism levels, pointing to his country's desire to further consolidate ties in the field of tourism at the highest level.
He pointed out the love and passion of the Belarusians in Egypt, especially the cities of Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh, as Egypt is the first destination chosen by the Belarusians as a first tourist destination, stressing that about 400 thousand Belarusians visited Egypt in 2019, pointing to the hospitality and good reception that Egyptians have.
For his part, Dr. Khaled Al-Anani thanked the Belarusian Minister, inviting him to visit Egypt with a delegation from Belarus, especially since the last time he visited Egypt was 8 years ago.
The Minister of Tourism and Antiquities stressed that the bilateral relations between Egypt and Belarus are distinct in the field of tourism, especially since Egypt and Belarus have unique tourism components, stressing that tourism has a major role in promoting rapprochement between peoples and increasing cultural and social communication between them, indicating his keenness to have representation of the Federation and the rooms Tourism within the Egyptian delegation, so that it will be an opportunity to get to know their counterparts in Belarus and that cooperation will be fruitful and continuous.
He also reviewed the approach and policy adopted by Egypt for the return of tourism, as it gradually started with the return of domestic tourism with a occupancy rate of 25% of the hotel capacity during the month of May, then this percentage was increased to 50% during last June, and as of July 1, foreign tourism has resumed Arriving to Egypt in three coastal tourist governorates, they are the Red Sea and South Sinai and Matrouh as a first stage, where these governorates have a small population density and almost zero non-existent injury rates.
He pointed out that the arrival of Belarusian tourists to Egypt in the first 48 hours of the resumption of the incoming tourist movement to Egypt, reflects the credibility of Egypt in front of the world and the confidence of the Belarusian authorities in the precautionary and preventive measures and requirements taken by Egypt, and it also confirms the Belarusians keenness to visit the Egyptian beaches and tourist destinations.
And arrived in the cities of Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada from the state of Belarus since the resumption of tourist traffic arriving to them 19 flights, including 10 trips to Sharm El-Sheikh, and 9 trips to Hurghada.
The minister emphasized that all the tourist trips that arrived in Egypt and returned to their country after the end of their tourist trips without a single injury throughout their stay in Egypt, indicating that this is a goal that Egypt seeks as tourists enjoy their tourism programs in Egypt and leave safely to their country.
It is worth noting that Dr. Khaled Al-Anani, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, had met in mid-June last year, through the application of Zoom, with the Minister of Sports and Tourism in Belarus, to discuss strengthening ways of cooperation in the field of tourism.