African nations hoping for tourism boost

Egypt, Kenya launch campaigns to attract Chinese visitors and lift ailing industries

Egypt and Kenya are hoping an influx of Chinese visitors will provide a major boost to their tourism industries this year, according to senior officials in both nations.

As many as 200,000 Chinese are expected to travel to Egypt this year as its tourism market continues to recover, says Samy Mahmoud, head of the General Authority for Tourism Promotion in the north African country.

More than 125,000 tourists arrived from China last year, up from 64,000 in 2014, he says, adding that the number is expected to rise further, with travelers attracted by popular sites such as the pyramids at Giza and ancient temples.

He says about 15 flights from Chinese cities land in Cairo, Luxor and Hurghada every week, while Egyptian travel agencies are working with counterparts in China to promote its destinations.

Egypt saw its tourism industry peak in 2010, when it received 14.7 million tourists and generated almost $12.5 billion, according to official data.

"But after the revolutions in 2011 and 2013, tourist numbers have fallen. By the end of last year, the number of tourists stood at 12.2 millions, bringing in $6.2 billion," Mahmoud says.

Since the 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Hosni Mubarak, Egypt has been in political, economic and social chaos, causing recession to its tourism industry, one of the main sources of the country's national income and foreign currency reserves.

The Russian airplane crash in North Sinai in October also dealt a heavy blow to the industry, with several countries, including Britain and Russia, suspending all flights to Egypt. In addition, terror attacks by Islamist militants have marked it as a high-risk area for international travelers.

However, Mahmoud says Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Egypt in January "sent a positive message" that "Egypt is safe and everything is under control".

He says his government is working hard to breathe life into the ailing tourism industry with promotion campaigns.

"We've launched campaigns in 14 European and Arab countries, as well as an initiative to promote domestic tourism."

As a result, he says, the number of Arab tourists in January and February was up 45 percent on the same period last year, while those from Ukraine and Poland are good. "We've also started to attract tourists from India and Japan," he adds.

To revive the industry, Mahmoud says tourist sources need to be diversified.

"We relied for a long time on four or five markets that brought about 70 percent of tourists. But after the Russian airplane crash, most of these countries have (warned) their citizens about visiting Egypt, causing us huge losses."

He explains that the target is to attract 9 million tourists this year, rising to 20 million annually by 2020.

"I expect the revenues in 2020 will be about $25 billion," he says, adding, "I hope the current good security situation in the tourist areas will send a message that Egypt is safe."

Meanwhile, Kenya is to extend its tourism marketing campaign beyond Beijing to woo visitors from more cities, according to Jacinta Nzioka-Mbithi, acting CEO of its national tourism board.

"We'll soon roll out a program to target second-tier cities that are not well familiar with Kenya as a tourism destination," she says.

According to data from her office, about 29,000 Chinese visited Kenya last year, down from 33,000 in 2014. The decline has been attributed to the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, which affected Kenya's overall international arrivals.

"However the decline of Chinese tourists was lower when compared with key source markets of the United States and Europe," Nzioka-Mbithi says.

She says more than 35,000 Chinese tourists are expected to visit her country this year and that early indications are positive.

"Tourists arrivals for the first three months have improved by an average of 18 percent compared with last year," she says. "We're also educating our tourism sector on how to develop products that cater to Chinese tourists."

In 2011, Kenya attracted a record 1.8 million tourists. The number last year was 1.2 million.

The central government has been trying to revive the tourism industry, as terror attacks by al-Shabaab militants in recent years have kept visitors away.

"The government has invested heavily in security, so we're optimistic the tourism sector will recover," Nzioka-Mbithi adds.