The future of tourism in Alexandria is very promising within the coming period as a result of the Egyptian government’s recent agreements with Greece, Cyprus, and Italy, specially from Milano city, to lure their citizens to visit the second largest city in Egypt, said Ali al-Manesterly, chairman of Alexandria Chamber of Travel Agencies.

Manesterly said in a press statement Friday that the establishment of beaches for tourists on the Mediterranean coast in Alexandria should be private to suit the needs of foreign nationalities.

Those beaches will be an opportunity to promote beach tourism alongside the classical, cultural and conference tourism enjoyed by Alexandria, he added.

He pointed out that foreign tourists prefer privacy in spending his vacation, and the idea of ​​allocating beaches to foreign tourism in return for fees is not strange to tourist cities in general.

Additionally, regular direct flights between the three countries and Alexandria city have also been part of the Chamber’s strategy to increase tourist flow to the city.

Subsequently, Borg al-Arab Airport will be expanded to serve twice the number it serves now, amounting to four million passengers by 2022. The airport currently serves 1.2 million passengers a year, he said.

Additionally, the government plans to double the number of hotel rooms in the city to cater to the anticipated increase in visitors.

Despite the end of the holiday of Eid al-Fitr, occupancy rate in Alexandria hotels now exceeds 90 percent, said Manesterly.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm