The head of Russia’s Federal Tourism Agency, Zarina Doguzova, suggested setting up a Russian-Egyptian contact group to constantly monitor the situation with Russian tourists, the agency said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Doguzova had a video conference with a delegation of the Egyptian travel industry, led by Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled El-Enany. The conference was also attended by the head of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor), Anna Popova.
"The head of Rostourism, Zarina Doguzova, put forward a proposal to set up a Russian-Egyptian contact group with the goal of round-the-clock monitoring of the situation and exchanging information related to Russian tourists," the statement says.
According to Rostourism, the talks focused on the current epidemiological situation in Egypt and the country’s measures to contain the novel coronavirus infection. Its participants also discussed Egypt’s preparedness to accept Russian tourists.
"The Russian side noted that an important factor in mutual travel was to ensure safe and comfortable stay of tourists, which is particularly important against the backdrop of the current pandemic," TASS cited the statement as saying.
Rostourism also said an agreement was reached to send a delegation of Rospotrebnadzor, Rostourism and other Russian agencies to Egypt "to jointly assess the epidemiological situation, preventive measures in facilities accommodating tourists, capacities of labs and medical facilities."
Also, Rospotrebnadzor and the Health Ministry of Egypt plan to sign a memorandum on cooperation in fighting against infectious diseases in the near future.
On July 8, Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted a ban on flights to Egyptian resorts by Russian air carriers that had been in place since 2015. Air service between Egypt and Russia was suspended in November 2015 following a terror attack onboard a Russian Kogalymavia flight that was on its way from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg on October 31, 2015. A bomb went off on board the plane minutes after takeoff, killing 217 passengers, including 25 children, and seven crewmembers.
