EGYPTIAN GLOBETROTTER PROMOTES TOURISM THROUGH PEA

He carries with him a massive flag that bears the signatures of people from each of the 93 countries he has visited. Haggagovic is not a stickler for the way he travels or the itineraries he follows. He believes every journey has its own story. “12 years have passed and I have been to every continent, crossed Russia in a seven-day train ride to Siberia, travelled to Ushuaia, the southernmost city of the world, crossed Mongolia and lived in the Amazon basin in Brasil. And now I am in the diverse land of India, from monuments to people, I just can’t get enough of this country,” he said. He believes that the situation in Egypt has affected the tourism industry. “Last year, we united and there was a massive revolution, which made the world sit up and take note of Egypt and Egyptians, but after that golden period, we lost that unity. Egypt is such a beautiful country and it pains me to see that due to the current scenario people have developed the wrong idea of Egypt. This is a very negative attitude as we Egyptians are really passionate and warm people.” According to Haggagovic tourism will always be Egypt’s strongest USP. “There is not one destination I can compare Egypt to in terms of beauty.” Commenting on the initiatives that should be taken to revive tourism, he said, “Tourism contributes to Egypt’s economy in a big way. It is critical that the government gears up to address the concerns of prospective travelers to the country. We should look towards highlighting Egypt’s pioneering and solid position as a key driver of the most important historical, cultural and artistic events in the region, and as one of the favourite destinations for tourists from around the world,” he said. During the coming months, Egypt will seek to bring back tourism rates to their previous levels witnessed in 2010. Haggagovic said, “The government should focus particularly on the