Egypt tourism ministry has collaborated with American payments giant Visa to revive the tourism industry of the country, and is seeking payments information from the firm to launch promotional initiatives.
As per the memorandum of understanding signed by Visa and the Ministry of Tourism, the Egyptian authorities will evaluate the information about the size of tourism expenditure tracked down by Visa payment cards.
Based on the information, the ministry will enhance domestic and inbound tourism, introducing innovative initiatives and bringing in the usage of social media platforms aimed at potential tourists.
Visa North and Francophone Africa general manager Tarek Elhoussiny said that with the current state of the online ecosystem the internet can potentially improve the image of the country through user-generated content on social media platforms and online media campaigns.
"It can also improve efficiency of all local suppliers and provide tools for the development and delivery of differentiated tourism products, which will ultimately help improve e-commerce growth," added Elhoussiny.
"In order to rebuild Egypt’s external image and reinvigorate tourism, a collaborative effort is needed to leverage all of the sector’s assets, both private and public, and gather all independent players into one unified front for recovery."
The first initiative to be launched as a part of the collaboration between the Ministry of Tourism and Visa is the "Rediscover Egypt" campaign, an innovative online photo competition. The competition is designed to highlight the beauty of Egypt to attract tourists.
