Egypt presents a tourist route in the footsteps of the Holy Family at the tourism exhibition in Moscow

The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt took part in the 30th International Exhibition of Tourism and Hospitality Industry (MITT) held in Moscow on March 19-21.

At meetings with Russian officials and representatives of tour operators, the possibilities of expanding bilateral cooperation and developing new interesting tourist destinations in Egypt were discussed.

In particular, one of these routes may be a trip in the footsteps of the Holy Family to Egypt as part of the active efforts of the Egyptian authorities to revive it, as well as the Great Transfiguration project in the city of San Catherine in Sinai. Tourists and pilgrims from all over the world flock there every year to climb Mount Moses, where, according to legend, God sent down the ten commandments to him, and at the foot of the mountain there is a monastery where a bush of Burning bush still grows – a descendant of that very biblical bush that does not burn in the flames of fire.

As for the journey of the Holy Family to Egypt, the Egyptian land still remembers the flight of the family of Jesus Christ described in the Gospel of Matthew. This is recalled by the plaques in the churches where the holy family hid from the massacre. And although there is no exact information in the Gospel about the places where Joseph and Mary stayed with the baby in Egypt (they are known only from Holy Tradition), the Copts (Egyptian Christians preserved this story and tried to pass it on to their descendants as fully as possible. Once such a tourist route existed, but then it was curtailed, and now Egypt is trying to launch it again along with environmental, medical and other areas of tourism in the country.

This year, 58 regions of Russia and 29 countries of the world took part in MITT. Egypt was awarded for "long–term cooperation," and another Middle Eastern tourist state, Jordan, received a prize for "a high–profile return to MITT." The Emirate of Abu Dhabi was also noted for the most striking debut in the exhibition.