VISITORS NOW HAVE MORE OPPORTUNITIES THAN EVER TO EXPLORE THE COUNTRY’S POSSIBILITIES THROUGH A JOURNEY OF LEISURE AND ACTIVITIES.
Globally recognised as one of the world’s richest countries, in terms of history and culture, Egypt attracts millions of tourists each and every year who want to travel back in time, where an ancient civilisation once thrived, leaving behind a rich cultural heritage.
Even though the country has faced a decrease in visitors over the last years, due to unfortunate domestic events, the government has persisted with its tourism investment, in order to minimise the damage.
Among its advertising campaigns was This is Egypt, which managed to win the Middle East’s Best Tourism Promotional Video at the World Tourism Organization’s General Assembly in China, boosting visitor flow into the country.
One of the key messages highlighted within the award-winning campaign, was the country’s vast and varied leisure offering, including; cruising activities, diving amongst the corals, golf, MICE facilities, family travel and sports tourism.
INCREASING THE FLOW
Recent reports from World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) revealed that the direct contribution of travel and tourism to Egypt’s GDP was EGP87.4 billion (USD8.7 billion), or 3.2 percent of total GDP in 2016, which also rose by 2.5 percent
in 2017.
WTTC also announced that by 2027, total contribution of travel and tourism for Egypt will rise by 6.1 percent per annum to EGP355.6 billion (USD35.4 billion), or 8.9 percent of GDP.
In 2017, Egypt attracted around 5,447,000 international tourist arrivals, however, by 2027, this figure is anticipated to rise to 12,487,000 tourist arrivals, according to WTTC.
Additionally, the country witnessed a 1.9 percent increase in visitor exports, while leisure travel spending grew by 2.8 percent, and business travel spending grew by 3.3 percent in 2017.
Samir Abbass, owner, Egypt Tours, supported these estimations by saying that Egypt’s 2017 performance was great.
Egypt’s main feeder market is mainly travellers from the GCC countries, however, the country has also proven popular among European travellers.
Frank Naboulsi, general manager, Fairmont Nile City, said, “2017’s most recognisable trend was weekend travellers, especially those from the GCC region.
As for the business tourism sector, the corporate segment witnessed a huge comeback.
With the main feeder market [...] being the GCC region, it constitutes around 40 percent of our guests’ nationalities [...].”
Alyona Kozyreva, marketing executive, SUNRISE Resorts & Cruises, agreed with these figures by highlighting that Egypt saw an increase in all main feeder markets, particularly families, compared to 2016 performance.
“Egypt is a family destination first of all. Most our guests are coming with families and kids, […],” added Kozyreva.
