8%-growth in number of tourists visiting Egypt since outbreak of Gaza War: minister tells Senate

CAIRO – 21 January 2024: Minister of Tourism Ahmed Issa stated before the Senate on Sunday that the Gaza War had not influenced the sector in Egypt as the number of tourists grew by eight percent since October 7.

The minister pointed out that while Egypt received 3.6 million tourists during that period, the number plummeted in other countries by 50 percent. He attributed that to adopting adequate programmes, in coordination with travel agencies, to mitigate the decline in demand on certain areas.

In a meeting with the prime minister on Thursday, Minister Issa stated that a total of 14.906 million tourists visited the country in 2023, highlighting that the previous record for tourist arrivals was hit in 2010, with 14.731 million visitors. 

According to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) report released in October, tourism revenues for the fiscal year 2022/2023 increased by 26.8 percent, reaching $13.6 billion, compared to $10.7 billion in the previous fiscal year (2021/2022).

The report also indicated a 35.6 percent rise in the number of inbound tourists, totaling around 13.9 million visitors. 

Moreover, the duration of their stays in Egypt increased by 27.6 percent, resulting in a record-breaking 146.1 million nights spent by tourists during the fiscal year 2022/2023.