Dr Farouk Nasser, the head of Tourism and Civil Aviation Committee announced a memo containing an urgent proposal that addresses the current challenges facing the hospitality and tourism sector. The proposal highlights the major requirement the sector needs to resume operations in the post-coronavirus phase.
Member of the committee includes Dr Mostafa Madbouly, Dr Khaled El Anany, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, and Tarek Amer, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt.
This announcement was made known to the committee during a virtual meeting anchor by Dr Farouk Nasser. The memo highlights the need for authorities to have the right measures in place as the battered hospitality and tourism sector faces uncertainty in the wake of COVID-19.
Other members present at the meeting include Dr Adel Ragab, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Misr Travel Company, Mohamed Youssef. Executive Director of the Association, and representatives from various tourism companies.
Dr Farouk Nasser, the Chairman of the Committee, started by appreciating the president on his decision to see that workers from the hospitality and tourism sector are incentivized.
He added that the companies in the tourism sector need to keys into the several initiatives by the government to reduce the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and to key into the central bank loan initiative that grants financial support to companies that have been severely affected
He said that the approval to obtain these loan facilities from the government-owned banks might take three months but that shouldn’t deter those who are interested in it. As most sector needs the support of the government to thrive in the post coronavirus phase and to become profitable again.
He concluded by pinpointing on the major highlight of the memo which is the government’s support to the tourism sector, setting up a workable mechanism to facilitate the implementation of the Central Bank of Egypt financial initiatives and the loan facilities which will be repaid over four years instead of the usual two years duration.
