The Egyptian General Authority for Tourism Promotion has established its first ever GCC office, located in the Abu Dhabi.
The newly launched office will work closely with airlines to encourage direct flights to Egypt's Sharm El Sheikh, Red Sea and North Coast. Authorities have worked to increase direct flights to tourist centers in Egypt, in an attempt to bypass any instability in the capital.
The Tourism Ministry is focusing on increasing Egypt's annual tourist arrivals to 20 million, with a focus on visitors from the GCC due to their higher per-person spending.
As part of this effort, a campaign called "Misr Orayeba" (Egypt is Near) was launched last featuring a number of Egyptian actors and singers. The campaign, which was basically just one song, was aimed to push tourists from the GCC to vacation in Egypt as well as spend more during their visits.
The Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE, have strongly backed the country since President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi came into power. The Gulf countries have provided $23 billion to Egypt in financial aid since the ousting of former President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, stated Ashraf Salman, the investment minister.
In Egypt's Economic Summit that took place in March, the three countries pledged to assist Egypt with $12 billion to help enhance the country's economy.