German tourists visiting Egypt in 2014 were approximately 800,000 tourists, achieving revenues of EGP 2bn, according to Atef Abdel Latif, member of the German-Arab Chamber Of Commerce.

He added that incentive tourism for Germans should be included in President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s agenda for the tourism sector, during his visit to Germany.

Abdel Latif believes that many international factories and companies are located in Germany, and they offer paid tourism programmes as incentives to their employees to many destinations worldwide.

He further requested the presidential delegation arrange with owners of senior companies and factories to direct their tourism programmes to Egypt. This step will hugely support Egyptian tourism.

“Concerning the tourism sector, we hope to double this number during the next period through mutual agreements between the governments of Egypt and Germany,” said Abdel Latif. He added that over 15 years, Germany and Italy were competing for the largest number of tourists visiting Egypt.

According to Abdel Latif, German tourists currently stay in Egypt for one week on average, instead of two weeks before the 25 January Revolution. He added that the Tourism Ministry should intensify its promotions to re-gain normal rates of stay through a suitable tourism programme.

He believes that classic and heritage tourism are among the German tourism priorities, followed by coastal and entertainment tourism. Based on this, the government should provide charter flights to Luxor and Aswan, and Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh, respectively, as a step towards facilitating heritage and coastal tourism for German tourists.

He said that trade exchange rate between Egypt and Germany reached €4.5bn, adding that Germany is considered the most important trading partner worldwide. Further, it is the first trading partner in Europe for Egypt, as well as the largest country that presents development aid. He concluded that German foreign direct investments in Egypt amounted to approximately €2.50bn.