Egypt's tourism ministry imposes new fees on sector’s business activities

The government set up the fund in 2022 to support and revitalise the sector amid the global economic crisis that has affected the local market, and to upgrade the services extended to visitors at touristic sites and boost the antiquities projects.

According to the decision, hotels will pay one percent of revenues made from room bookings. Current regulations stipulate they pay between EGP 5 and EGP 50 for the room per night.

Coffee shops and restaurants will pay between EGP 4,000 and EGP 5,000 per year, and fees could rise by EGP 3,000 or EGP 5,000 if they serve alcohol or hookah.

Bazaars will pay between EGP 5,000 and EGP 10,000 per year depending on their location.

Tourism operators will pay from EGP 3,000 to EGP 10,000 based on their activity.

The repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict have hit the tourism industry in Egypt, plummetting the profits the sector gained over the past six years.

The government is adopting a plan for the recovery of the tourism sector, intending to collect $30 billion for the sector by attracting 30 million tourists to the country annually by 2028.

Egypt’s balance of payments witnessed an improvement in the first quarter of FY 2022/2023 (July-September), as the current account deficit has narrowed by 20.2 percent to post $3.2 billion, compared to $4 billion in the same period of the preceding fiscal year, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said in February.