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Belarus interested in attracting more tourists from Egypt

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MINSK, 17 July (BelTA) - Belarus is interested in attracting more Egyptian tourists, Belarus’ Sport and Tourism Minister Sergei Kovalchuk said as he met with Dr. Khaled Al-Anani, the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt, BelTA has learned.

“Last year, 258,000 Belarusians visited Egypt. These are pretty large numbers. Now we need to move around this statistics and encourage more citizens of Egypt to come to Belarus. So far, we have welcomed a little more than a thousand Egyptians a year,” Sergei Kovalchuk said.

In his opinion, such a small flow is due to transport issues. “We do not have a direct regular flight with Egypt. So we need to address this issue. It would be good to have low-cost airlines flying on this route," the minister said.

Sergei Kovalchuk noted that the Belarusian hosts will try to show the Egyptian delegation all advantages of the country. “We are developing various types of tourism: industrial, medical, agro-ecotourism. The country has good health resorts, a large number of sports facilities, excellent infrastructure,” he added.

For his part, Dr. Khaled Al-Anani said that this was one of his first visits abroad after the pandemic. “Our main goal is to show that we are ready to welcome tourists," he said. “Those tourists who visited Egypt after the borders reopened returned absolutely healthy. Everyone who is visiting our country has a safe stay.”

Dr. Khaled Al-Anani noted, in particular, the interest of the Egyptian business in Belarus: various proposals are considered, tours are offered, negotiations are held. “We have taken our relations to the level of interstate ties. Tourism is the best way of communication between our citizens,” he concluded.

The Egyptian delegation headed by Minister of Antiquities and Tourism Dr. Khaled Al-Anani is on a two-day official visit to Belarus. The guests are set to visit the National Historical Museum, Minsk Tractor Works, the Cathedral Mosque and the Yunost health resort and take a tour of Minsk. The presentation of the tourism potential of Belarus and Egypt has been scheduled for 18 July.

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