Egypt succeeds in increasing number of incoming tourists to 7M in 1st half of year

CAIRO - 7 October 2023: The government's plan succeeded in increasing the number of tourists arriving in Egypt to reach 7 million tourists during the first half of this year. 

 

The month of April alone recorded the largest number in terms of receiving tourists, reaching 1.3 million tourists.

 

The government aims to increase the number of tourists to 18 million tourists during the year 2024, to rise to 30 million tourists by 2028.

 

To achieve this goal, the state is working to develop the infrastructure of the tourism sector through:

 

 

1- Digital transformation

 

The Corona pandemic demonstrated the need for a massive digital infrastructure, which was used to convert many archaeological areas to virtual visits, to maintain the target tourist, and build a good image during periods of isolation during the pandemic, in addition to the shift to cashless payment, and the development of websites for museums and tourist facilities.

 

About 80% of the project to automate hotel and tourist establishment services has been completed, and work is being done to increase the internet capacity in hotel establishments and developing platforms for booking archaeological sites and museums.

 

Work is underway to provide internet services at archaeological sites, and work is underway to create a mobile application to promote Egyptian tourism.

 

 

2- Hotel energy

 

Hotel capacity in Egypt witnessed a remarkable increase, reaching about 211.6 thousand hotel rooms by the end of the fiscal year 2022/2023, achieving annual growth of up to 2%, with an expectation to reach 500 thousand hotel rooms in 2028 and increasing growth rates to about 25% annually.

 

 

3- Linking tourist destinations

 

The Egyptian state has witnessed a boom in the field of infrastructure, including roads, transport and communications. Egypt has approximately 27 airports with a capacity of 30 million passengers, and it has worked on developing aviation because tourists arriving by air are the most numerous, so it launched a low-cost airline as a wing of EgyptAir.

 

 

4- Developing the legislative structure

 

Many laws have been issued to stimulate investment and to attract investors to work in the tourism sector in light of the outdated tourism laws that do not suit the evolving nature of tourism, such as amending the harassment law, Law No. 27 of 2023 to establish tourist rooms and organize a union for them, and Law No. 8 of 2022 issuing the Hotel Establishments Law.

 

And tourism - as an alternative to the previous law issued in 1973, Law No. 19 of 2022 establishing the Tourism and Antiquities Support Fund, and Law No. 84 of 2022 regulating Hajj and establishing the unified Egyptian portal for Hajj.