Egypt: A Promising Future for Tourism
Egypt is developing a national strategy to enhance tourism as the country aims to provide a distinguished tourism experience for visitors to Egypt. In this regard, the Ministry of Tourism has been working on several levels to achieve its goals and secure foreign currency in the midst of the latest economic challenges in securing foreign currency. Accordingly, the tourism industry has been performing well, with hopes that the outcome will be unprecedented after implementing the ongoing and future developments, which include empowering the private sector and providing tourist visa facilitation.
Tourism Development in Numbers
During the first quarter (Q1) of fiscal year (FY) 2022/2023, tourism revenues rose by 43.5% to record $4.1 billion from $2.8 billion, according to the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) report on the balance of payments (BoP) performance.
Additionally, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) stated on September 27th, 2022, that the number of tourists coming to the country increased by 85.4% in the first half (H1) of 2022 to 4.9 million tourists, compared to 2.6 million tourists during H1 2021. The number of tourists from all countries in the world reached 8 million in 2021, compared to 3.7 million in 2020, an increase of 117.5%.
Moreover, Fitch Solutions expects an increase in tourist arrivals to Egypt in 2023 and up to 2026. It forecasts Egypt's tourism revenues to grow by 17.7% to hit $13.6 billion in 2023. Tourism revenues are also expected to reach $17.9 billion by the end of 2026.
Empowering Private Sector for Empowered Tourism Industry
Egypt is working on empowering the private sector and improving the investment climate. The Ministry of Tourism is addressing several aspects, including increasing hotel capacity in the country and diversifying its types, as well as improving the legislative environment, especially in light of the ministry's role as a supervisor, regulator, and licenser to work within the tourism industry.
Hossam Hazzaa, a tourism expert, tells Arab Finance: “The private sector has been always working closely with the government to enhance tourism. The government has been taking successful steps to attract tourists, such as issuing visas upon arrival to certain nationalities or holders of the Schengen visa. The country has also developed logistics and airports and created alluring marketing campaigns. Egypt also increased charter flights that in turn boosted the number of tourists. These efforts helped develop tourism in 2022. As a result, in the latest ITB Berlin, the Egyptian pavilion was the second best among the African pavilions.”