Madbouly made the remarks to the press during a two-day inspection tour in Sharm El-Sheikh city, the host of COP27 next November, to follow up on the ongoing projects to develop the city and the efforts underway to host the climate conference.

The premier said the number of people who have applied to participate in COP27 is double the number of participants during the past two editions of the conference, Madbouly said, without giving specifics.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s EC4SDF, an observer non-governmental organisation (NGO) to COP27, said late in August that about 35,000 people from around the world so far have registered on the UN website to attend COP27.

This puts the upcoming UN climate change conference in Sharm El-Sheikh on track to possibly become one of the most attended COPs, the NGO asserted.

During the tour, Madbouly said Egypt is keen to accept all requests to participate in COP27 as per the directives of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, adding that this has posed a challenge for the state with regards to expanding the areas allocated to receive participants.

The premier also noted that Egypt seeks to capitalise on COP27 to “promote Egypt to the world as a tourist attraction and show the size of development projects in the country.”

Boosting tourism

Egypt seeks to more than double the annual tourism revenues to $30 billion during the coming few years from roughly $11-12 billion currently, Madbouly said.

The premier said he called for the private sector and investors to set a detailed executive plan of their needs from the state to raise tourism revenues to $30 billion within two to three years.

Egypt now receives around 11 million tourists annually, which is almost equal to the number of tourists Egypt used to receive before the coronavirus pandemic, Madbouly said, noting that Egypt aims to double this number soon.

The projects being carried out in Sharm El-Sheikh as part of Egypt's preparations for COP27 provide an ideal opportunity for increasing the number of tourist arrivals in the city, Madbouly said.

Receiving COP participants

Ahead of COP27, Egypt has worked on raising the efficiency of Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport, including by establishing an additional hall at the airport, Madbouly said.

Currently, the airport is capable of receiving 10 million tourists year-round, he noted.

President El-Sisi has ordered raising the efficiency of aircraft runways at the airport so that it includes two runways operating simultaneously like at other international airports, the premier added.

Currently, more than 717 taxis are operating in the city with tracing systems and CCTV cameras to ensure the highest degree of safety for tourists, Madbouly noted.

This is in addition to new 260 buses working with natural gas or electricity, which abide by all environmental standards.

Vehicles transferring participants during COP27 will run on electricity, Madbouly said, affirming the availability of 18 charging stations across the city.

Tourists will also enjoy a bicycle-sharing system in the city and will be allowed to pay for their ride via credit card, he added.

During his visit to the city, Madbouly toured a number of projects, including some that have been completed.

Madbouly’s tour included the central park, the new city hall of Sharm El-Sheikh, charging stations, the airport, as well as a number of drinking water and sanitation projects.

Madbouly said he directed authorities to finalise constructions works linked to COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh within a month to start working on logistical and organisational aspects of the conference as of the beginning of October.