Egypt launched a global advertising campaign on Thursday with a series of slogans celebrating its recent revolution.
The launch at trade show ITB in Berlin unveiled a variety of new slogans celebrating the recent overthrow of the government, including:
“Welcome to the country of peaceful revolution”, “7,000 years of history and a new era”, and “Tahrir – a square rocks the world”. Tahrir Square in Cairo was at the centre of the protests that deposed former President Mubarak in Febuary.
The campaign will run on TV, in print, online and outdoor, and ally the new slogans to the tagline in use since 2010 – “Egypt, where it all begins”. It will use images reflecting the revolution, including a postage stamp dated January 25, the day the uprising began.
New Egyptian tourism minister Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour unveiled the campaign at ITB. He said the country expects a speedy rebound in visitor numbers and the year to finish with arrivals close to the level of last year.
Tui Travel chief executive Peter Long told Travel Weekly on Wednesday that he expects bookings to Egypt this year to be about 60% of the level of 2010.
The minister said Egypt had suffered a short-term fall in tourism numbers “due to the current incidents”. But he said he expects “a fast return”, with tour operators and airlines offering full programmes.
Egypt drew more than 14 million overseas tourists last year and aims to attract 25 million a year by 2020.
The Egyptian consulate’s tourism department said in a statement: “Egypt is optimistic about a quick rebound and is looking forward to the pro-democratic change and the new era to go hand in hand with an upturn in tourism.
“Egypt has been the focus of worldwide media attention . . . [now] the primary objective is to quickly get back to the normal level of tourism. All travel warnings have been removed. A lot of tour operators have announced [a] full commitment.
“The peaceful, pro-democratic revolution has brought a fresh breeze to Egypt. Tourism officials will freshen up their marketing measures accordingly, focussing on increased participation at international events and media-marketing activities.”
The new campaign will also include the following slogans: “A new era of hospitality”, “Peaceful change is in the air”, “A peaceful revolution inspires the world”, “The online revolution – made in Egypt”, and “Nothing new here, history is made”.
Egypt’s former tourism minister Zuheir Garana was among a number of members of the former government who were arrested last month.