Egypt and Bahrain are set to launch joint tourism marketing programmes in East Asia, focusing on enhancing collaboration in tourism and archaeology. This initiative will include organising temporary exhibitions of Egyptian artefacts in Bahrain.
On Monday, Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Sherif Fathy, met with Bahraini Ambassador to Cairo, Fawziya bint Abdullah Zainal, to discuss strengthening bilateral tourism and archaeological ties.
The officials highlighted the potential to boost tourism from East Asia to Egypt, particularly from China, leveraging Bahrain’s established flight connections to attract more tourists to both countries. They also discussed organising professional meetings and workshops between tour operators in Bahrain, Egypt, and East Asia.
The plans include enhancing cooperation on hosting temporary exhibitions of Egyptian artefacts in Bahrain and improving efforts in artefact restoration, documentation, and archaeological excavations in both countries.
In 2023, Egypt welcomed around 14.9 million tourists, a 27 percent increase from 2022, according to a statement from the Egyptian Cabinet. Egypt aims to attract 30 million tourists by 2028 as part of its national strategy.
Tourism expert Mohamed Karim stressed that joint tourism marketing efforts between Egypt and Bahrain in East Asian markets could significantly boost tourism flows to both countries. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Karim noted that the initiative aims to implement joint promotional campaigns and provide incentives to attract tourists from East Asia, which would positively impact the economies of both nations.
He also mentioned that the cooperation would involve exchanging information and expertise, coordinating media and advertising campaigns, and organising familiarisation trips for travel agencies and tour operators from East Asia.
