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Egypt's tourism sector record 7.1M tourists in H1 of 2024

The tourism sector revenues amounted to $6.6 billion in the first half of 2024 and this represents a 5% increase compared to the $6.3 billion generated during the same period in 2023.

By: Business Today Staff

Tue, Jul. 2, 2024

Egypt welcomed 7.069 million tourists between January and June 2024, surpassing the previous high of 7.062 million recorded during the same period in 2023, according to a comprehensive report presented to Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa.

This represents a 0.1% increase compared to 2023 and a 2.4% increase from 2010, a peak year for tourism in Egypt.

The influx of tourists has also led to a significant boost in the number of tourist nights spent in Egypt, reaching 70.2 million during the first half of 2024. This surpasses the 67.6 million nights recorded in 2023 and 65.7 million nights in 2010.

The tourism sector revenues amounted to $6.6 billion in the first half of 2024. This represents a 5% increase compared to the $6.3 billion generated during the same period in 2023 and an 18% growth from the $5.6 billion recorded in 2010.

Egypt witnessed the highest influx of tourists in tourism history in 2023 with a record-breaking 14.906 million visitors. This growth is in line with Egypt's ambitious goal of reaching 30 million tourists by 2028.

• Ministry of Tourism

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Egyptian Streets

Independent Media

Egypt Hits Record 7 Million Tourist Milestone in First Half of 2023

By Egyptian Streets

Egypt welcomed over seven million tourists in the first half of 2023, a record-high for the country, according to a statement published by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on 10 July.

Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa congratulated the Permanent Council for Hotel and Resort Permits, as well as the tourism private sector, during a regular meeting with the council.

The minister highlighted “the efforts of the private sector and the fruitful and effective cooperation with the relevant authorities […] to place Egypt in the competitive position that it deserves among the ranks of the world’s major tourism states.”

“Cooperation and coordination is ongoing with the Ministry of Civil Aviation to increase the number of seats” from countries with numerous tourists coming to Egypt, Issa said.

The minister also pointed out record-high growth of the number of incoming tourists and the number of nights stayed, as well as the consistency and diversity of the composition of tourism markets, according to the statement.

The ministry had predicted 15 million tourists to enter Egypt in 2023. A similar performance with a slight increase in the second half of 2023 will keep the country on course to achieve its target.

Egypt welcomed 11.7 million tourists in 2022.

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Egypt’s tourism sector sees ‘remarkable growth,’ tourism receipts to increase to 29.7 bn by 2024

Total tourism receipts in Egypt, or expenditures made by inbound visitors to the country, stood at $16.4 billion in 2019, and Egypt’s tourism industry is on its way to a remarkable recovery after years of political instability and security concerns, with spending from foreign visitors to the country to 29.7 billion by 2024, according to Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME at the Arabian Travel Market.

The Arabian Travel Market, a leading international travel and tourism event in the Middle East, is considered by industry professionals to be a barometer for the region’s tourism sector, and hosted nearly 40,000 people from over 150 countries in 2019. This year’s event is set to kick off at the Dubai World Trade Center on April 19, 2020 and run through April 22, and aims to introduce tourism professionals to hundreds of destinations, attractions and brands.

Tourism Minister at the time Rania Al-Mashat attended the 2019 Arabian Travel Market last spring and stressed the importance of the event in light of ongoing efforts by Egypt’s Tourism Ministry to attract more Arab tourists to Egypt.

In light of a recent resurgence in tourists after years of political instability and security concerns, Egypt is set to return to the Arabic Travel Market in 2020 with some of the country’s most prominent tourism companies, including the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Board, Dana Tours and Orascom Development Egypt, according to a press release from the event’s organizers.

Photos of Egypt’s stand at the Arabic Travel Market in 2019 (courtesy of ATM)

‘Remarkable growth’ in 2019

Tourism receipts are set to achieve an average 13% compound annual growth rate over the next five years, eventually reaching nearly 30 billion in 2024, Curtis said, commenting as well on growth in Egypt’s tourism sector over the last year.

“Over the last 12 months, Egypt’s tourism industry has witnessed remarkable growth, with arrivals up 57.5% from 11.3 million in 2018 to 17.8 million in 2019. Growth has been fueled by the cheaper Egyptian Pound and government incentives for charter airlines operating international flights,” Curtis said. 

Egypt’s top source market is Germany, with 2.48 million arrivals in 2019, a 46% increase compared to the previous year. 

German tourists spent $1.22 billion in the country in 2019. By 2024, German arrivals to Egypt are expected to reach 2.9 million, with total projected spending predicted to jump to $2.18 billion.   

Following Germany, the second largest source market in 2019 was the Ukraine, with 1.49 million visitors, a nearly 50% increase compared to the previous year. The jump has primarily been driven by the availability of direct flights, which resumed after a two-year suspension in April 2018.

While arrivals from Europe are expected to be the largest on a regional basis, increasing from 6.2 million in 2018 to 9.1 million tourists predicted in 2022, arrivals from the GCC will represent one of the highest growth rates as well in the country.  

Comeback on the Red Sea

Data and analytics specialist STR said that Egypt’s Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh had led the recovery of Egypt’s tourism sector, with revenue per available room, or RevPAR, rebounding 315% between 2016 and 2019. 

Hurghada followed closely behind with a 311% increase, whereas Cairo and Giza recorded 138% growth, according to the ATM press release.

In December 2019, the first UK flight to Sharm el-Sheikh since the 2015 UK ban landed at Sharm El-Sheikh International airport, following a four-year hiatus after the bombing of a Russian passenger plane in the Sinai Peninsula shortly after take-off, killing all 224 people on board.

Days after the ban on UK flights to Sharm al-Sheikh was lifted in October of last year, British Ambassador to Egypt Geoffrey Adams claimed that nearly half a million British citizens would visit Egypt before the end of 2020, a major boost for Egyptian tourism.  

“(Lifting the flight ban to Sharm el-Sheikh) should lift UK visitor numbers significantly in 2020 and beyond,” Curtis said.

After the flight ban was imposed, according to STR figures, hotel occupancy for the following year was a mere 33.6%. 

Last year, however, hotel occupancy climbed to 59.7%. 

Earlier this January, low-cost airline EasyJet also announced that it would resume flights between the UK and Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh in June 2020.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) designated the 2015 incident as a terrorist attack and the country also suspended flights to Egypt, but in 2018, Russia’s largest airliner Aeroflot resumed flights to Cairo.

Russian tourists held the lion’s share of tourism in the Red Sea resort towns of Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada until the decision to suspend flights, and the area is also popular among European tourists for water sports, nightlife, and safari tours.

The Red Sea vacation spot of Hurghada, for example, is expected to see 41 percent growth in its tourism sector during 2020, which will further boost its ranking, according to a 2019 report from Euromonitor International.

“Looking further than its current top source markets, the 2020 influx of UK visitors, the bulk of Russian visitors still to come back, as well as the Chinese market — the future looks promising for Egyptian tourism,” Curtis said. 

Tourism from the Gulf

Its estimated that GCC tourists to Egypt will spend $2.36 billion in 2020, representing an increase of 11% compared to figures from 2019, with visitors from Saudi Arabia driving the growth, according to new data published ahead of ATM 2020.

Visitors from Saudi Arabia to Egypt made 1,410 trips in 2019, but some experts forecast 1.8 million tourists from the Kingdom visiting Egypt by 2024, a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5%. 

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabian visitors to Egypt spent $633 million in 2019, a figure that is also estimated to grow at a CAGR of 11%, reaching $1.13 billion by 2024, according to research from Colliers International, which was commissioned by the organizer of the Arabian Travel Market, Reed Travel Exhibitions, a leading travel and tourism events organizer.

“And Egypt also has a significant outbound market for the GCC. 1.84 million visitors arrived in 2019 and this is estimated to increase to 2.64 million by 2024,” Curtis said.   

Image: Tourists make their way past statues inside Luxor Temple in Luxor, Egypt, on Thursday, April 25, 2013. Egypt ranked last in terms of security and safety on the World Economic Forum’s 2013 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, but efforts to tighten security and the easing of flight restriction have aided the recovery of the once-ailing tourism sector (Shawn Baldwin/Bloomberg)

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Egypt records 46% increase in number of tourists in 2022: Minister

Ahram online , thursday 16 mar 2023.

Egypt received 11.7 million tourists in 2022, up from eight million in 2021, marking a 46.2 percent increase, said Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa on Wednesday.

The number of visitors to Egypt is expected to increase by 28 percent this year to 15 million, Issa added in a meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.

Travellers to Egypt increased by 35 percent in January and February, compared to the same months of 2022, he noted.

During the meeting, Madbouly said the recent growth in the number of tourists was the result of a host of key measures the government has adopted over the past year.

Egypt has been working to ensure the recovery of the tourism industry, one of the country’s leading economic sectors, after it was hit by the  coronavirus pandemic  and the  Russia-Ukraine war .

The Russian and Ukrainian markets are among the largest markets for tourism to Egypt.

The government took  numerous measures  to stimulate the sector, including deciding in January to allow 180 nationalities to obtain tourist visas on arrival to Egypt provided they have a valid and used visa on their passports for either the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Japan, or the Schengen countries.

The Ministry of Transport also launched in September its first-ever online platform to regulate the entry of yacht trips into the country as part of a newly developed strategy to leverage the country’s unique strategic geographical location and long coastal lines.

Promoting tourism has gained further urgency in Egypt amid the global economic crisis, which has put pressure on the local currency and caused Egypt to face a shortage in foreign currency.

Egypt targets  tourism investments  of EGP 7.4 billion in FY2022/2023, compared to EGP 6.2 billion in FY2021/2022, according to a statement by Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Said in December.

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Egypt’s tourism revenues increased by 26.8% in fy 2022/2023.

Egypt Today staff

Sun, 08 Oct 2023 - 03:47 GMT

CAIRO - 8 October 2023: Egypt's tourism sector has witnessed a remarkable upswing, with revenues reaching an impressive $13.6 billion in FY2022/2023, reflecting a substantial increase of 26.8 percent compared to the previous fiscal year's figure of $10.7 billion, according to the report released by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) on Wednesday.

The number of tourists visiting Egypt surged by 35.6 percent, reaching approximately 13.9 million tourists. Furthermore, the number of nights spent by tourists in Egypt experienced a notable rise of 27.6 percent, to record 146.1 million nights in FY 2022/2023.

The government's strategic efforts led to attracting a significant influx of visitors to Egypt, culminating in an impressive milestone of 7 million tourists during the initial six months of 2023.

Tourist numbers reached 1.3 million tourists during April, which recorded the largest number within a single month.

The revenues generated from the tourism sector, along with the contributions of the Suez Canal, have made a profound impact on Egypt's economic landscape, as the country successfully transformed a $10.5 billion deficit in its Balance of Payment (BoP) during the fiscal year 2021/2022 into a surplus of $882 million in the fiscal year 2022/2023.

Recognizing the significance of the tourism sector as a major foreign currency earner, Egypt has set ambitious goals to double the number of tourists over the next five years, aiming to reach 30 million tourists by 2028.

In pursuit of this objective, the government is actively engaged in enhancing the tourism sector's infrastructure through boosting digital transformation, increasing hotel capacity, linking tourist destinations and developing the legislative structure to stimulate investment.

Central Bank of Egypt

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Egypt seeking to attract 30 million tourists by 2028

Minister of tourism and antiquities ahmed issa says growth of 25% to 30% a year is achievable with new strategy.

January 17, 2023

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What reforms are supporting Egypt's tourism industry?

Egypt | Tourism

After years of recovery following the decrease in tourism that resulted from the 2011 revolution, Egypt is once again attracting international visitors, with annual growth for 2020 projected in double figures. Although the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic significantly impacted the global tourism industry throughout the first half of 2020, it is expected that the growth seen in Egypt’s tourism segment in recent years will likely resume in 2021.

Structure & Oversight

In 2019 the structure of Egypt’s tourism sector changed significantly when the Ministry of Tourism merged with the Ministry of Antiquities to become the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA). Khaled El Enany, who was at the time the minister of antiquities, was named minister of tourism and antiquities. Merging the two ministries was a move to further develop Egypt’s antiquities tourism, with the aim of shifting the country’s multifaceted travel industry away from the more traditional sun-and-sand offerings.

In November 2018 the MoTA launched the Tourism Reform Programme – known as E-TRP – which outlined a new tourism strategy. The programme covers a number of objectives, including hiring at least one member of every household directly or indirectly in the sector, and driving sustainable tourism forward. The reform presents a wide-reaching strategy with five pillars: institutional reform; legislative reform; promotion and marketing; infrastructure and tourism development; and global tourism trends. The programme aims to revise and improve the legal framework governing the industry, which has been in place since 1970. Administrative restructuring will improve bureaucracy in the system through modernisation and digitisation, supported by capacity building, which aims to enhance the skills of all those working within the sector. This includes greater access to vocational training and improving the English-language skills of those employed in hospitality.

Performance & Size

According to The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), Egypt’s tourism industry has demonstrated rapid growth since the decline that followed the 2011 revolution. In 2019 travel and tourism contributed LE496.4bn ($30.6bn) to Egypt’s GDP, around 9.3% of the total, representing a 0.2% increase on the previous year.

In 2019 the tourism industry indirectly employed almost 2.5m people – representing 9.7% of total employment in the country, with the WTTC estimating that this figure would reach approximately 3.2m by 2029. Growth, however, will likely be somewhat more subdued than anticipated as a result of the Covid-19 virus and its effects on the sector.

Airports & Flight Routes

Since 2018 Egypt’s government has invested heavily in new international airports as part of its plan to reinvigorate tourism. In July 2019 construction began on Capital International Airport, 70 km east of Cairo, which will serve the new capital city starting in late 2020 or early 2021. This comes as part of ongoing infrastructure development efforts to alleviate pressure on Cairo International Airport. Further investment in the Sphinx International Airport – located close to the Great Pyramids, west of Cairo – will also commence new flight routes and support greater air traffic for those visiting the current capital.

In February 2020 EgyptAir announced the return of a connecting flight between Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada – resort cities – and Luxor, which is said to hold around one-third of the world’s antiquities. The new flight, set to run once per week, would link those leisure resorts with archaeological sites.

More flight routes are set to open as a result of the MoTA incentives programme, which was introduced as part of E-TRP. Working closely with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the MoTA programme – which runs between 2018 and 2020 – provides incentives based on different criteria. A number of requirements include non-discrimination between charter and regular aviation, and the distinction of governorates or destinations that receive high numbers of incoming tourists.

According to the MoTA, in October 2019 the programme resulted in around 22,300 flights, transporting some 3.6m tourists during the first 10 months of that year. A new aviation incentive unit, established by the MoTA to manage a digital database, will use results from this programme to inform future incentive strategies.

Source Markets

Most tourists travel to Egypt for leisure purposes – accounting for around 86% of total visitor spending – while business travel makes up the remaining 14%. According to the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), in 2019 visitor numbers increased by 21% to 12.6m arrivals. This figure had been expected to reach approximately 15m in 2020, rising to heights last seen in 2010; however, global travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic are likely to affect this figure. Although the long-term effects of the virus on the sector remain unclear, it is expected that tourism will resume growth in 2021. According to the WTTC, in 2019 international visitor spending accounted for 59% of total tourist spending, with the domestic market contributing the remaining 45%.

According to the most recent “Egypt Tourism and Hospitality Market” report from Colliers, as of 2018 tourism to Cairo was driven largely by business travellers from within the region. Corporate visitors accounted for around 67% of hotel occupancy, followed by meetings, incentives, conventions and events (MICE) activities (20%) and leisure visitors (13%). Leisure travellers tend to stay closer to the pyramids, booking short stays in the capital on their way to other destinations within the country.

Security & Health

Following the dip in tourism after the 2011-13 political transition, Egypt experienced a drop off in tourist activity. Despite relative political stability, a somewhat negative international public perception of security kept tourists away. The bombing of two tourist buses – one in December 2018, which killed two people, the other in May 2019, injuring 16 – damaged Egypt’s public image. In addition, travel warnings regarding access to specific regions made many tourists uncertain of which areas were safe to visit. However, significant government efforts to improve security and the public perception of Egypt as safe to visit have resulted in tourism numbers gradually increasing, returning to levels last seen prior to 2011.

To enter any of Cairo’s famous museums or to gain access to the pyramids, visitors must currently undergo an identification check and metal detector scan. Similar schemes have been established following terror attacks in major European cities, such as bag checks in museums in both London and Paris. Additionally, the police are more strictly enforcing an existing rule that requires tour operators to maintain and submit their tour group itineraries.

Officials are also looking to address health concerns in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. In mid-June 2020 hotels were mandated to adhere to guidelines established by the Chamber of Hotel Establishments, including operating at 25% capacity and other preventative measures. Hotels must also follow government regulations, as well as guidelines from the World Health Organisation.

Arrival Markets

Tourism to Egypt is led by Germany, which made up 15% of total visitors in 2019, followed by Saudi Arabia with 8%, and Sudan, the UK and Libya, each with 4%. According to data published ahead of the 2019 Arabian Travel Market (ATM), an annual travel and tourism exhibition held in Dubai, the number of European tourists to Egypt is forecast to rise from 6.2m in 2018 to around 9.1m in 2022. Tourism from Russia and the UK experienced a dip following an attack on a Russian plane in October 2015. The incident resulted in a two-year travel ban from both countries; however, direct routes to Sharm El Sheikh were reopened in 2019 following Egyptian investment of nearly £20m to improve security, and tourism levels have returned to normal.

New airport safety measures include the construction of a six-metre-high wall separating Sharm El Sheikh from the rest of the Sinai Peninsula. To encourage visitors to return to the region, the government has introduced a number of additional security measures at the airport. The first passport check occurs at the motorway exit to the airport, while inside the airport, there are new swab tests, as well as photograph and fingerprint processes.

Efforts to improve security have been made in other airports. Egypt invested LE60m ($3.7m) in a new security scanning system at Marsa Alam International Airport, which includes computed tomography – or CT – scans, set to be completed by the end of 2020. A similar device was installed in Terminal 2 of the Hurghada International Airport in 2018.

Travel from the Middle East rose substantially between 2015 and 2020, with Saudi Arabia accounting for 6% of all visitor arrivals in 2018 and 8% in 2019. Tourist arrivals from the Middle East are expected to grow from 1.5m in 2018 to 2.2m in 2022 – an increase of around 50%. The MoTA has increasingly focused new promotion strategies on emerging tourist markets in recent years. Subsequently, a video from Egypt’s People To People campaign was awarded the best promotional film award in the Middle East by the UNWTO in September 2019.

A number of sector representatives, including the Egyptian Tourism Authority (ETA) and the Egyptian Hotel Association, were scheduled to attend the ATM in April 2020, but the event was moved to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Egypt’s attendance is intended to further promote the sector within the Middle East and on the international stage.

In addition to marketing campaigns targeted at the Middle East, the MoTA is also focusing promotional activity towards Eastern Europe and new markets in Central and South Asia. Following the temporary decline in tourism from the UK and Russia, the MoTA turned its attention to alternative markets. Japan, China and Vietnam are some of Egypt’s most promising tourist markets, with around 670,000 tourists from Asia visiting Egypt in 2018, the most recent year for which this information is available. In 2017 Japan reopened its direct flight between Tokyo and Cairo, following a four-year hiatus due to low demand. The MoTA is aiming to increase the total visitors from Japan to around 130,000 annually, following a 38.2% increase in visitors between January and September 2019.

Hotel Infrastructure

Travel agencies have flourished due to the increase in tourism over recent years, with many making group bookings in hotels and helping to drive occupancies rates up. Greater demand from travel agencies across the country reflects the growth in the business and leisure tourism, as private investors signal plans for widespread development. As part of its 2018 E-TRP strategy, the MoTA is aiming to increase the total number of hotel rooms from 89,993 in 2018 to 238,114 rooms by 2030.

Hotel occupancy rates increased in 2019, with average revenue per available room (RevPAR) growth of 20% compared to 2018. In the first 10 months of 2019 Cairo, Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh and Alexandria experienced RevPAR growth of 12%. In 2019 the occupancy rate in Cairo was 75%, up from around 70% in 2018. This trend was expected to continue with estimated occupancy rates of 81% in Cairo, 84% in Alexandria, 64% in Sharm El Sheikh and 70% in Hurghada in 2020; however, the outbreak of Covid-19 in the first half of the year has led to a considerable drop in overall rates. In January and February 2020 Cairo’s average daily room rate and RevPAR were $92 and $71, respectively, before dropping significantly in March.

In a move to significantly boost hotel offerings, the Egyptian Hotel Association (EHA) announced planned infrastructure investments of $800m for 2020. In November 2019 Maged Fawzy, chairman of the EHA, told local media that around 100,000 rooms were under construction and 8000 of these were expected to be completed in 2020, but as of June 2020 this had been delayed until at least 2021.

In 2018 E-TRP introduced new norms for hotel classification, with the aim of ensuring that national hotel classification criteria meet international standards. The EHA has overseen this process by contracting independent standards agencies to carry out comprehensive reviews across the sector.

New Projects

Meanwhile, a number of international hotel giants have announced new projects across Egypt, focusing on Cairo and the surrounding area. In February 2020 Saudi Arabia’s Hospitality Development Group announced its intention to build eight hotels over two years, at an investment cost of about $450m. The new hotels are set to be located in Cairo, Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh, Marsa Alam, Luxor and Aswan. In 2018 the Marriott International and Hilton hotel groups announced several multimillion-dollar projects across Egypt, which are slated for completion by 2023.

Niche Markets

Millions of visitors flock to Egypt every year, not only for its sun-and-sea tourism, but also for its rich cultural heritage and wide array of historical sites. Beyond Cairo and the famous Great Pyramids, Luxor is attracting large numbers of tourists with its expansive range of archaeological offerings and popular hot air balloons. According to Tharwat Agamy, chairman of Luxor’s Tourism Companies Chamber, in 2019 land hotel occupation in the city increased by 90% and floating hotel occupation increased by 100%.

Egypt held its first niche tourism forum in 2013, with representatives from National Geographic’s Centre for Sustainable Development and over 100 dignitaries in attendance to discuss and plan the development of the country’s promising niche travel sector. The country has since highlighted the growing potential for ecotourism, with Egypt’s Tourism Development Authority emphasising the potential development of four specific ecotourism zones: coastal, desert, riverbanks and wetland.

Although ecotourism is developing somewhat more slowly than other areas of the industry, the Egyptian government has already established 21 protected areas in response to pressure by foreign donors. The EU and other institutions have funded environmental protection projects including a number of resort destinations in national schemes.

Religious tourism is another of Egypt’s niche segments. Egypt is home to a large number of historic temples, synagogues, churches and mosques. In 2018 the country was an official Roman Catholic Church pilgrimage destination, and it is hoped that this will result in greater numbers of Catholic pilgrims in the years to come.

Between 2018 and 2020 the MoTA invested LE65m ($4m) in the renovation of the Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue, the oldest and largest synagogue in Alexandria. It was inaugurated on January 10, 2020 and is expected to entice greater tourism in the coming years. The renovation of the synagogue, which had fallen into disrepair, demonstrates the Egyptian government’s ongoing commitment to repairing and restoring buildings of historical importance.

As part of the MoTA strategy to diversify tourist source markets, the ETA is also working to promote sports events and spaces. The Mena House Oberoi Golf Club, located close to the Great Pyramids, has welcomed golfers since the late 1800s. There are now 20 luxury golf courses to be found across Egypt, many of which have hosted large international golf tournaments. Since 2015 the country has hosted a number of gold tours as part of an initiative between the ETA and the Egyptian Golf Federation. Thanks to its warm winters and substantial investment in practice facilities, Egypt is now able to host major golfing events, attracting both amateurs and pros.

The modernisation of marketing is a key goal under E-TRP. Pillar three of the reform, promotion and marketing, provides several objectives to improve the current tourism marketing strategy. The pillar contains three broad goals: to establish international marketing and promotion partnerships; to adopt modern, digital and competitive promotion approaches; and to diversify revenue streams and increase the sector’s resilience by tapping new international source markets.

To establish an effective marketing campaign, the MoTA intends to brand by individual destination, creating identities for each of Egypt’s different tourist centres. In addition, all marketing materials will be promoted via both traditional and digital media. The country has already demonstrated considerable innovation by establishing the first specialised tourism Instagram TV – better known as IGTV – channel in the MENA region. As part of tourist market diversification, the MoTA is aiming a new winter tourism campaign at India, China and Latin American countries. Another strategy is set to focus on the Gulf, to be carried out at the ATM in 2021.

The ETA website informs visitors about all of Egypt’s major attractions and tourist destinations. The site includes an interactive map displaying what each tourist area has to offer, general tourism information, as well as a link to download the ETA app. The ETA has also introduced the #ThisIsEgypt hashtag in order to encourage travellers to share their visits and discover other experiences.

In 2019 the MoTA announced that progress had been made on its tourism promotion campaign through partnerships with international marketing and media companies including New York-based creative agency Beautiful Destinations, US news network CNN, China’s travel site Ctrip, US-based Discovery Channel, online hotel-booking site Expedia and the UK’s digital marketing company Isobar.

The MoTA hopes to attract larger numbers of international visitors with the opening of the new Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). The long-awaited GEM was originally slated to open in late 2020, but has been delayed until 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Through close collaboration and promotion of the #GEM2020 hashtag, the MoTA aims to establish Egypt as a prime destination for tourism.

The $1bn GEM will have a direct view of the Grand Pyramids, and is set to be the largest museum in the world with a focus on civilisations. Its exhibition of over 100,000 artefacts will include a Tutankhamen collection and several objects that have not been shown to the public since their discovery in 1922. In addition, the $17m Sphinx International Airport is expected to be fully operational for the launch of the GEM, alleviating pressure on Cairo International Airport. “The Giza Plateau is like Stratford in London,” Ibrahim El Missiri, CEO of Abu Soma Development, told OBG. “Following the 2012 Olympics, the area has been changed significantly due to massive investment. We plan the same for Giza.”

Although the spread of the Covid-19 virus in the first half of 2020 significantly impacted tourism worldwide, Egypt’s push to develop its tourism reform alongside infrastructure investment and global promotional activities looks set to lead the industry to success in the longer term.

The move to establish the country as a world leader in antiquities tourism, and further development of its traditional sun-and-sea offerings, has reinvigorated Egypt’s tourism industry. A number of new flight routes and increased airport capacity will provide international visitors greater access to the country’s many attractions in the years to come.

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Travel and tourism industry in Egypt - Statistics & Facts

Egypt's fascinating history, interesting culture and breathtaking beaches established it as a well recognized travel destination around the world. Tourists visit Egypt to enjoy various types of activities, yet cultural tourism remains the most popular one. Egypt was ranked third amongst the Middle Eastern countries with the most international tourist arrivals, receiving more than eight million arrivals in 2017 , after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates who also witnessed their fair share of tourism. The Travel and tourism industry provides a substantial contribution to the Egyptian Economy, with a total contribution of 374.6 billion Egyptian pounds (EGP) to GDP, which is equivalent to a share of 11% of the GDP in 2017. The industry is estimated to make a total contribution of over 600 billion EGP to the Egyptian economy in 2028. The direct contribution of travel and tourism to the GDP in Egypt was close to 200 billion EGP in 2017, and is estimated to rise by 4.5 percent from 2018 to 2028 to 289.7 billion EGP. This reflects an increase in the level of economic activity created by industries such as hotels, travel agents and airlines, including the activities of the restaurant and leisure industries directly benefited by tourism. The industry also had a considerable effect on employment, in 2017, where the sector directly contributed with more than 1.09 million jobs. In 2016, Egypt experienced the lowest number of tourist arrivals after the crash of the Russian plane in 2015. The figures for the year 2017 show that the tourism sector is on the rise again following its decline in the aftermath of the 2011 political uprising. In 2017, the number of tourist arrivals was over to eight million, down from 14.05 million in 2010. In 2017, the highest number of tourist arrivals were from European countries with around five million tourists, followed by tourists from the Arab league member states and the United States. The political events in Egypt have drastically affected the occupancy rate of hotels and similar establishments in Egypt which suffered a fall from 76 percent in 2008 to 31 percent in 2016. In January 2018, Rania Al-Mashat was appointed Egypt’s first female Tourism Minister. Since then, Egypt has adopted a comprehensive plan to reform its tourism industry and intensified its efforts in promoting sustainable tourism, receiving the Global Champion Award from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) in April 2019. This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text. Show more - Description Saifaddin Galal Research Expert North Africa Published by Saifaddin Galal , Feb 22, 2024

Key insights

Detailed statistics

Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide 2005-2023, by region

Monthly hotel occupancy rates worldwide 2020-2024, by region

Revenue per available room of the hotel industry worldwide 2008-2019, by region

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Real contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Egypt 2012-2028

Leisure Travel

Number of tourist arrivals Egypt 2019-2022, by region of origin

Tourist expenditure in Egypt 2008-2022

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Number of jobs in travel and tourism sector in India FY 2014-2024

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HICP inflation rate of travel and tourism services in the EU 2024

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Contribution of China's travel and tourism industry to GDP 2014-2023

Travel and tourism industry's share of GDP in China from 2014 to 2022 with a forecast for 2023, by direct and total contribution

Change of travel and tourism industry's contribution to GDP in China 2012-2023

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Distribution of travel and tourism expenditure in France 2019-2023, by tourist type

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Number of travel and tourism jobs worldwide from 2019 to 2023, with a forecast for 2024 and 2034 (in millions)

Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Europe 2019-2034

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Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Germany 2019-2034

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Share of tourism spending in leading travel markets worldwide 2023, by type

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Gross value added of the tourism industry Philippines 2023, by type

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Travel and tourism's total contribution to employment in Russia 2019-2034

Total contribution of travel and tourism to employment in Russia from 2019 to 2034 (in million jobs)

Market size of travel and tourism market in India 2023-2030

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Expenditures on travel agencies in domestic tourism Philippines 2012-2023

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