Egypt participates in Manila Sustainable Tourism conference

CAIRO – 26 June 2017: The Ministry of Tourism took part in the 6th International Conference on Tourism Statistics: Measuring Sustainable Tourism held by the U.N. World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in the Filipino capital, Manila. The conference encourages the formation of a statistical framework to support policies and track progress in the field of sustainable tourism.

The ministry presented Egypt’s efforts in the field of sustainable tourism in the conference’s general assembly.

In a press release, the ministry stressed “Egypt’s leading contribution to the region in terms of measuring statistics, touristic accounts and tourism contribution to the nation’s economy.” According to the ministry, “Egypt’s efforts have been in place through the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) which collaborated with several national entities including the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).”

The conference was held June 21-24. It was attended by over 900 representatives from 88 countries. The attendees included ministers, statistical chiefs, policy experts and statisticians.

"This is an unique opportunity to build a more responsible and committed tourism sector that can capitalize its immense potential in terms of economic prosperity, social inclusion, peace and understanding, cultural and environmental preservation,” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai in a press release.

In light of the U.N.’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, the U.N. General Assembly declared 2017 to be the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.

Egypt has suffered from economic losses after political instability and safety concerns affected the country’s touristic sector. This month, the State Information Service quoted Minister of Tourism Yehia Rashed as saying that “Egypt’s income from the tourism sector increased by 128.3 percent during the first three months of 2017.”