CAIRO – 19 March 2019: World Travel &Tourism Council (WTTC) issued a report revealing that the travel and tourism sector's contribution to the Egyptian gross domestic product (GDP) hit 11.9 percent of the total economy during 2018.
The report elaborated that this contribution amounted to LE 528.7 billion ($29.6 billion), adding that the travel and tourism sector grew 16.5 percent during 2018.
The sector provided 2.48 million jobs, representing 9.5 percent of total employment, with expectations to jump to 3.222 million in 2029.
In November, Egypt’s Minister for Tourism Rania al-Mashat, said at a WTTC panel that she hopes to create “at least one opportunity for one person in every household in the country.”
For her part, WTTC president and chief executive Gloria Guevara, said: “We’re delighted to see the strong recovery of the Egyptian travel sector – a sector crucial to national economic growth and a key provider of jobs."
According to the report, tourists spent LE 218.1 billion (12.2 billion) in Egypt during the previous year. It also expected the number of tourists to increase to 11.7 million during the current year.
Tourists from Germany ranked at the top of the arrivals list with 13 percent, followed by Russia (12 percent), United Kingdom (7 percent), then Saudi Arabia came fourth by 6 percent, and Italy by 3 percent.
The report also showed that leisure spending allocated 86 percent in 2018 while the remaining 14 percent went to business spending. Also, international spending accounted for 55 percent and 45 percent went to domestic spending.
Regarding global data, it said that while the global economy grew by 3.2 percent in 2018, travel and tourism further grew by 3.9 percent.
The total GDP global contribution reached 10.4 percent, and provided 319 million jobs.
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