ONLY twice a year, on October 22 and February 22, the sun rays penetrate some 60 metres deep into the Abu Simbel Temple of Ramses II, gradually lighting up the giant structure’s inner chamber in a fascinating phenomenon, the Sun Festival, that has over decades attracted tourists and Egyptian civilisation fans. As it took place for a breath-taking duration of 22 minutes as of 6.00am last Friday, the festival drew impressive participation by a considerable number of tourists and nationals as well as the presence of more than 50 ambassadors and foreign envoys, signalling the success of the Tourism and Antiquities Ministry in organising the magnificent event in a way that reflects the effectiveness and reliability of the anti-coronavirus protective measures, in addition to the fructification of the state’s drive to reinvigorate the tourism sector’s potentials especially now that world travel is beginning to show increasing signs of recovery from the repercussions of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. In statements to news and media personnel covering the event, Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled Anani noted that he outlined to the foreign ambassadors and diplomats over a working dinner on a Nile cruise ship on the eve of the event the series of health precautionary and protective measures that had been put into effect to protect the safety of tourists and visitors, so that they could inform people in their respective countries. Aswan Governor Ashraf Attiya, together with senior provincial officials, were there to oversee the implementation of health and other arrangements to ensure the safety and comfort of tourists and visitors, including through the placing of a huge plasma screen at the temple’s lawn, the fixing of sanitising gates and materials at entry and exit points. Such meticulous steps point to the state’s keenness on providing tourists with the facilities and preparations that ensure a comfortable and enjoyable experience especially given the country’s unique acquisition of rare antiquities and fascinating tourist attractions.
Viewed within the framework of the state’s ongoing, energetic drive to reinvigorate the tourism sector’s potentials now that the global travel business is eyeing expansion or at least recovery after being hard-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Friday’s Sun Festival celebration in Abu Simbel complements the scene of the tourism sector’s efforts elsewhere. In the Red Sea cities and resorts, hotels, accommodations and tourist installations are readying to operate with full capacity while maintaining observance of health protective and precautionary measures. Raising the absorption and service capacity of tourist staying sites, along with the relevant arrangements and facilities offered to tourists at the country’s international entry and exit points, reflect positively on the tourism sector’s overall performance as a tourism industry expert explained in remarks quoted by al-Gumhuriya Online last weekend. The combined process consequently enhances the trust of tourist-exporting markets in Egypt’s touristic potentials, which translates into a projected increase in the volume of tourist flow to Egypt now that autumn is drawing close and winter is drawing near, thereby enabling the country to optimise the returns of intensive efforts and huge investments that have been channelled to the invigoration of the tourism sector’s infrastructure, in addition to offering tourists a safe, comfortable and highly reliable service.
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