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Egypt to vet food hygiene in hotels
Ben Ireland
ben.ireland@
travelweekly.co.uk
Egypt is pledging to improve its reputation for food hygiene with a project to improve hotels’ cleanliness in Hurghada, where two Thomas Cook customers died in August.
New tourism minister Dr Rania Al-Mashat has enlisted international health and hygiene consultants Preverisk to audit more than 100 hotels in the Red Sea resort. Egyptian authorities had put the deaths of Cook agent Susan Cooper and her husband John within hours of each other down to e-coli – a finding disputed by their daughter. Thomas Cook says questions “remain unanswered”. The pilot project will see
six Preverisk experts assess the hygiene of food, water and swimming pools, personal hygiene, waste management, gardening water and procedures to prevent the viral spread of infections. The scheme is expected to be extended across Egyptian resorts following the pilot. The Egyptian Hotel Association has signed up to the project, with
Tourism minister Raina Al-Mashat has initiated the pilot in Hurghada
104 of its member hotels to be audited in Hurghada. Abta and UK tour operators
have met Egyptian officials to share data and propose actions. A Cook spokesman confirmed it is part of the “encouraging” project, which follows a meeting in Cairo between chief executive Peter Fankhauser and the Egyptian minister after the Coopers’ deaths. Al-Mashat said the initiative
was a bid to emulate successful food-hygiene projects in Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Greece. “We are after excellence in how
our tourists are taken care of in their homes away from home,” she said. “The success of these actions rests on the ownership and implementation by the Egyptian hospitality and health industries.” Preverisk’s Dr Esteban Delgado said the project was partly in response to the Coopers’ deaths and believes it can help raise Egypt’s hygiene standards to the level of countries like Spain and Portugal, and increase holidaymakers’ confidence. The inquests into the Coopers’ deaths were opened and adjourned in September. Abta welcomed the initiative.
Mr Motivator, flanked by Lucy Huxley, Travel Weekly, and Daniele Broccoli, Typically Holidays
Mr Motivator ties up with Typically
Ben Ireland
ben.ireland@
travelweekly.co.uk
Typically Holidays has signed up fitness guru and 1990s icon Mr Motivator to host aerobics classes at its hotels next year.
The trade-only operator behind
the Typically Italian and Typically Spain brands is tapping into a growing demand for fitness and wellness breaks, especially among older customers. Mr Motivator will run morning
and evening sessions at hotels across the Typically range in 2019. Dates and locations for the five and seven-night breaks will be confirmed soon. Daniele Broccoli, managing
director of Typically Holidays, whose customers are aged 45 and older on average, said: “We’ve had lots of requests from agents about fitness and health holidays. “We thought if we are going to
do it, we should do it with the best in the business.” Mr Motivator, who is giving
away his $2.4 million Jamaican property in a raffle (page 52), said his brand of fun exercise was the way to get holidaymakers to
“People want to indulge on holiday and we don’t need to make them feel guilty”
be active while on their summer break. He said: “People want to indulge
when they’re on their holidays, and we don’t need to make them feel guilty. It’s about the balance of enjoyment and wellbeing. “It’s not just the physical side; the mental side of health and wellbeing is important too. If your mental state is right you can conquer anything. Exercise is a bit like make-up in that respect, it makes you feel good about yourself.” Broccoli first met Mr Motivator
“on the side of a motorway near Peterborough in the late 90s” as the two were involved in a Macmillan Cancer Support charity event, and have kept in touch ever since. Mr Motivator recalled: “He
brought Italian sandwiches, the best I’ve ever had. That’s someone you stay in touch with. “When the idea [for the tie-up] came about, it was a natural fit.”
1 November 2018
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