Egypt pins hope on China to revive ailing tourism industry: official

Official figures from the Egyptian Embassy in Beijing show that the number of Chinese tourists who visited Egypt in the first five months this year nearly doubled from last year.

A total of 147,000 Chinese tourists visited the most populous Arab country from January to May 2017, marking a 94 percent rise from the same period last year.

China has become the fourth largest exporter of tourists to Egypt since the beginning of 2017.

Statistics also show that Chinese tourists spent 850,000 tourist nights in Egypt from January to May 2017, compared to 161,000 tourist nights in the same period last year.

"We have some four sister cities in China and in the next months we will have two more Chinese cities," the governor said, adding that he hopes to have more direct flights between Luxor and Chinese cities.

Badr noted that he is trying to market Luxor as a tourist attraction by giving Chinese tourists a good impression so every visitor would have a good story to tell back home.

Badr stressed that Luxor is totally safe, as his team is working hard to increase security and tourist facilities.

"We have also developed the road network in the province. I expect more tourists, mainly Chinese, to come to Luxor this year," he said.

Speaking about a Chinese initiative to construct an opera house in Luxor, Badr said a protocol of cooperation would be signed soon.

"We have already allocated a piece of land for the opera in front of the Nile," he said, adding that it will be jointly funded by culture ministries in China and Egypt.

In January 2016, Egypt's cabinet approved a Chinese initiative to establish a new opera house in Luxor, which was proposed during the visit of President Xi to the historic city.

"I think it is very important to establish such a cultural and artistic minaret in Luxor. I believe that we will know soon when the construction work will start," Badr said.

The governor predicted that it will take 18 to 20 months to finish building the opera house.

"We have connections in history, we are the cradles of civilization; we are developing the world together," Badr said, referring to the friendship between Egypt and China.