Egypt Holds International Conference to Promote Health Tourism
(AWP) - Egypt is hosting a two-day international conference on health tourism under the slogan ‘The Echo of the Past is Renewed Today’ with the participation of a host of Egyptian and foreign experts.
Through the event, Egypt aims to significantly increase the number of tourists to the country by achieving a major leap in the field of health tourism and establishing itself as the leading destination for this type of tourism in Africa and the Middle East.
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly delivered a speech describing his country’s significant steps to improve the health and therapeutic tourism infrastructure, emphasising the potential for further measures to turn Egypt into a global hub for this sector.
Egypt views the gathering as an opportunity to expand strategic partnerships and international agreements in the field of health tourism in the future.
Major General Khaled Fouda, the South Sinai Governor, stated that the President’s instructions were to consult foreign experts with experience in the field.
He added, “Many countries and companies are with us today at this conference. We have experts from Britain, the United States, Japan and Lebanon. We have gathered experts who will enrich this event.
Recommendations will be made at the end of the conference which we hope will benefit the state.”
Egypt boasts many sites and destinations for health tourism, including sulfur water springs which are believed to help cure many diseases.
During the conference, it was announced that the first health tourism resort in Egypt would be implemented in the area of al-Saff in Giza governorate, with investments of up to 1.5 billion Egyptian pounds.
Mohamed Karara, Director of the Maxim Group, which is responsible for the al-Saff Health Tourism project, said that the project, as announced by the Prime Minister, was the first to be signed in this field, and that construction was already underway in al-Saff, about one hour away from Cairo Airport.
He explained, “One of the main reasons for selecting this area is that it is far from environmental pollution. It overlooks the River Nile and is green and boasts several factors that will help the project succeed.”
Egypt aims to achieve annual growth in the number of tourists ranging between 25% and 30%, reaching 30 million tourists by 2028. It considers this a step towards ensuring a fair share of global tourism, according to the Ministry of Tourism.