Egypt welcomed a record 14.9 million visitors last year, despite the surrounding political friction since October, exceeding its 2010 peak.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Egypt received 7.069 million tourists from January to June 2024, surpassing the previous year’s 7.062 million tourists. This marks a slight 0.1% increase from 2023.
Top feeder markets are Germany, Russia, with Saudi Arabia becoming the third. “It is with this growth that we are back to Riyadh Travel Fair after a five-year gap,” Dr Mohamed El Sherbeiny, General Manager, of the International Tourism Offices, Egyptian Tourism Authority, tells TTN’s Publishing Director, Kim Thomson, in an interview.
Dr El Sherbeiny tells us: “The new strategy for the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities is focused on helping and supporting our stakeholders, specifically tour operators and airlines. We have what we call a Joint Advertising Campaign programme where we support our stakeholders up to 50 per cent of the total cost of advertising and we recently announced this can go as high as 75 per cent.”
Dr Nader El Biblawi, President Gezira Travel and Chairman of Egyptian Travel Agent Association, says: “Professor of Egyptology and MP Gihan Zaki has recently been appointed CEO of the new Grand Egyptian Museum, a new landmark for Egypt and the world’s largest museum dedicated to one civilisation. Although it has been inaugurated, it is not fully operational yet. There are cultural functions and musical shows happening in the arena of the Grand Egyptian Museum, but final touches are being done on Tutankhamun Showroom and once open, guests will find the richest treasures of the ancient Egypt virtually. It is truly a must-see showcase.”
El Alamein occupies a beautiful spot on the Mediterranean coast. Dr El Biblawi says: “Ten years ago this destination was purely an Egyptian destination. With vigorous ongoing development, we now have 10 hotels, five these in the Al Masa development alone, including international brands with more in the pipeline. This area has increasingly attracted the international traveller, especially starting with the cooler month from September.”
Dr El Sherbeiny adds that El Alamein’s War Memorial attracts visitors from Italy and more interest is also coming from Eastern Europe especially Kazakhstan with direct flight to El Alamein.
Sharm El Sheikh accounts for almost 30 per cent of Egypt’s total room capacity and is well known for its coral reef. “We are developing our diving industry, this along with our hosting COP27, we are developing Sharm El Sheikh to be a Green City,” Dr El Sherbeiny tells us.