It was another mixed night on the nation’s talk shows, with tourism, tax and tuition fees all receiving airtime.

April was a record month for tourism: Tourism Minister Ahmed Eissa’s announcement that a record 1.35 mn tourists visited Egypt in April and his forecast for 15 mn tourists this year was the focus of many programs last night, including Lamees Hadidi’s Kelma Akhira (watch, runtime: 4:11) and Amr Adib’s El Hekaya (watch, runtime: 3:37). Hadidi also hosted tourism investor Hossam El Shaer, who spoke about what the country needs to do to reach its target of receiving 30 mn tourists a year by 2030 (watch, runtime: 11:59).

Will the tuition fee cap rise? International and private schools still have about two months to announce their tuition fees for next year, but the conversation around raising fees has returned to TV screens early. It seems the Education Ministry is sticking with the current 7% cap on tuition fee hikes, according statements made by the ministry’s spokesperson Shadi Zalta on El Hekaya last night (watch, runtime: 5:20 | runtime: 3:04).

Tax was still a topic of conversation: Former international cooperation minister and deputy PM Ziad Bahaa El Din appeared on Ala Mas’ouleety to discuss the recently-passedpackage of tax increases and income tax changes. “Egypt has an urgent need to impose taxes and what the country is witnessing at an economic level requires frankness regarding the reality of the situation,” he told show host Ahmed Moussa (watch, runtime: 38:07).

The Senate’s approval of the government’s new economic and social development plan also attracted interest, with Masa’a DMC (watch, runtime: 38:07), Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 8:02) and Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime: 12:54) all giving the news attention.

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