CAIRO — Tourism is beginning to pick up in Egypt. To encourage greater and faster growth, the country is awarding a $68 million, three-year contract to New York advertising agency J. Walter Thompson Co. (JWT) to run a public relations campaign in 27 markets around the world.

The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism announced the contract on Aug. 23. JWT had promoted Egypt before the outbreak of the revolution in January 2009. Since then, the country has been relying on the ministry's offices for promotion.

Elhamy el-Zayat, chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Federation, told Al-Monitor, “Improving Egypt’s tourism sector depends on improving the view of the country’s domestic situation, as many countries believe that Egypt has no security or stability for the time being.” He stressed, “The biggest challenge for Egypt is to shift this perspective, especially since Egypt is the heart of the Arab world, which has now become a source of news of violence in the world.”

The terror attack in Sousse, Tunisia, at the end of June has also negatively affected Egyptian tourism, Zayat added. “JWT will be able to respond to all that is being said about Egypt in foreign markets, because it is one of the world’s largest companies in the public relations and advertising field,” he said.