Egypt's Tourism Authority has opened an office in Abu Dhabi in accordance with directives of Tourism Minister Khaled Ramy.

The ministry launched "Egypt is Close" promotion campaign especially in the Arab Gulf region to increase the number of tourists visiting Egypt from the region.

In a speech during the inauguration of the tourism promotion office, chairman of the authority Sami Mahmoud said the step shows the close ties binding Egypt and the Arab world.

The UAE has stood beside Egypt in the various domains at the hard times, he said, noting the incoming tourism from the UAE to Egypt is one of the highest in the Arab world.

Egypt plans to receive 20 million tourists a year by 2020 and achieve an income of 26 billion dollars, he pointed out.