Hisham Zazou (; born 1954) is an Egyptian businessman and politician who is the former Egyptian minister of tourism. He was one of the ministers who are not affiliated with an Islamist party in the Qandil cabinet. Zazou remained in his post in the interim government of Egypt, until he was replaced by Khaled Abbas Rami. He was reappointed on 19 September 2015.

Early life and education

Zazou was born in 1954. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in commerce from

Ain Shams University Ain Shams University () is a public university located in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 1950, the university provides education at the undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels. History Ain Shams University was founded in July 1950, the third ...

in 1980. Beside his Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from the University of Ain Shams in Cairo, Zaazou earned a specialized Certificate in PPP. (Public Private Partnership) from Harvard Kennedy Business School, MBA & PhD from the international business from IBRA, Delaware, USA.

Career

Zazou began his career in the City Bank Group for five years in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. Then he helped to establish a tourist agency in the US focusing on the Egyptian market and began to work in the tourism field. From 2004 to 2007, Zazou served as the chair of the Egyptian Tourism Federation.

Political career

During the Mubarak era, in 2009, Zazou served as the first deputy of the minister of tourism. After the Egyptian uprising, he served as senior assistant to former tourism minister Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour. On 2 August 2012, Zazou began to serve as tourism minister in the cabinet of

Hesham Qandil Hesham Mohamed Qandil (also spelled: ''Hisham Kandil''; ; born 17 September 1962) is an Egyptian engineer and civil servant who was prime minister of Egypt from 2012 to 2013. Qandil was appointed as prime minister by President Mohamed Mor ...

. Although Zazou submitted his resignation on 1 July 2013, it was announced by the state news agency

MENA The Middle East and North Africa (MENA), also referred to as West Asia and North Africa (WANA) or South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA), is a geographic region which comprises the Middle East (also called West Asia) and North Africa together ...

on 15 July that he would continue to serve as tourism minister in the cabinet of interim prime minister Hazem Al Beblawi. Zazou sworn in on 16 July.

Statement on tourism following attack in Sinai

Following a fatal attack in the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

in August 2012, in which 16 Egyptian soldiers were killed by armed men who subsequently infiltrated into Israel and were killed by the

Israel Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; , commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial and space warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Indep ...

, Zazou denied that there was a negative impact on tourism following the attack, and said that tourism agencies did not cancel reservations and that he was personally calling them to make sure. Zazou stressed that tourists should feel secure in Egypt.

Resignations

In June 2013, Zazou submitted his resignation in protest at President Morsi's appointment of a member of the Construction and Development party as governor of

Luxor Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt. Luxor had a population of 263,109 in 2020, with an area of approximately and is the capital of the Luxor Governorate. It is among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited c ...

– this party being associated with the Jama'a al-Islamiya group, which had killed 62 tourists and local tourism-industry workers in the 1997 Luxor Massacre. Zazou's resignation placed him at the head of a mass protest from all quarters of the Egyptian tourism industry, a main source of foreign currency that is vital to the country's economy. Prime Minister Hisham Qandil "refused the resignation and asked him to stay at his post to review the situation". A few days later the new governor resigned instead. However, he and four other ministers resigned from office on 1 July due to government's reaction to mass demonstrations in the country. Then prime minister Qandil refused to accept Zazou's resignation, however, and asked him to remain in the post.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zazou, Hisham 21st-century Egyptian politicians 1954 births Living people Ain Shams University alumni Qandil Cabinet Tourism ministers of Egypt People of the Egyptian revolution of 2011 Beblawi Cabinet