182 %.. An increase in international tourism

The tourism sector is one of the most important sectors that contribute to employment, in addition to its great overlap with a number of other sectors in the economies of Arab countries, which necessitates the conclusion of a number of Arab agreements in the field of tourism.

The League of Arab States has expressed great interest in deepening Arab regional integration in all sectors, foremost of which is the travel and tourism sector, which is a fundamental pillar in achieving Arab economic integration.

International tourism

Bahgat Abu Al-Nasr, Director of the Economic Integration Department at the League of Arab States, said that international tourism witnessed an increase of 182% year-on-year in the period from January to March 2022.

117 million international tourists

Destinations around the world have received an estimated 117 million international tourists, compared to 41 million in the first quarter of 2021. Despite this, they have not yet reached their levels in 2019, while they contribute about 11.5 percent to the gross domestic product in Arab countries.

The Arab Tourism Strategy endorsed by the League of Arab States is also an important step in this path. Of course, the General Secretariat will cooperate with member states and specialized Arab organizations and federations to put that strategy into practice, thus contributing to the development of the tourism system and reflecting on the promotion of intra-tourism.

Bahjat Abu Al-Nasr highlighted the role of the Technical Secretariat of the Arab Ministerial Council for Tourism, which works side by side with all Arab and international organizations and federations with the aim of:

1- Increasing the movement of inter-Arab tourism

2- Creating an appropriate environment for developing and improving the quality of tourism services

3- Facilitating travel and movement between Arab countries

4- Keeping pace with the global tourism industry changes.

5- Enhancing cooperation relations in the field of sustainable tourism development.

Egypt preserves its heritage

On a related level, Ahmed Issa, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, said that Egypt not only preserves its heritage, antiquities and civilization, but also preserves the heritage and antiquities of other countries, explaining that the ministry, through the central management of ports and archaeological units in Egyptian ports, plays a very important role, which is controlling any A stolen Egyptian artifact before it was smuggled out.

On the other hand, any seized artifact belonging to other countries with ancient civilizations, such as the Iraqi Republic, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the People's Republic of China, is handed over to their ambassadors in Egypt.