Egypt wants to increase its visitor numbers by between 25 per cent and 30 per cent annually as it pushes to hit 30 million tourists by 2028, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa said.
The new strategy to revitalise the tourism sector — battered by the Covid-19 pandemic and the fallout of the Russia-Ukraine war — includes more than doubling the number of hotel rooms, increasing the number of plane seats, investing in promotion and improving the overall visitor experience.
“We need just 300,000 rooms, $30 billion of investments in rooms and probably similar amounts of investments in customer experiences. Spread the word — and it is a great industry to invest in,” said Mr Issa at a talk at the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt on Monday.
Egypt’s tourism numbers dropped to 3.7 million in 2020, from about 13 million in 2019, before slightly recovering to eight million in 2021, according to the country’s statistics agency Capmas.
While full-year figures for 2022 are not available, five million tourists visited Egypt in the first half of the year.
The country’s revenue from the tourism sector, an important source of foreign currency, decreased to $4 billion in 2020, from about $13 billion in 2019, before hitting $9 billion in 2021.
Tourism is even more vital as Egypt struggles with an economic crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine about a year ago. In addition to lost tourism receipts, the war has led to a large capital outflow, a higher food import bill and soaring inflation.
As a condition for a $3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, the country has committed to a permanent shift to a flexible exchange rate, letting the Egyptian pound halve in value against the US dollar over the past year.
Mr Issa, who was appointed in August in a cabinet reshuffle, said he sees an opportunity for tourism growth led by the private sector, despite economic challenges.
In contrast to his predecessor Khaled El Enany, who came from an Egyptology and academic background, Mr Issa spent about 25 years at Egyptian lender Commercial International Bank. He held key roles such as chief financial officer and chief executive of retail banking.
“I have built a career on problem-solving,” Mr Issa said. “I usually ask myself: is it a problem of supply or is it a problem of demand?”
Egypt has 2,000 archaeological sites and six Unesco world heritage sites, including such top attractions as the Pyramids of Giza, the Valley of the Kings in Luxor and the temples of Aswan. It also features coastal destinations on both the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.
Despite all of this, the country “has only been getting less than 1 per cent of the total tourism in the world”, he said.
In 2019, there were more than 1.4 billion tourists globally, half of which went to Europe.
A couple of surveys in the past few months have pointed to optimism for the future of Egypt’s tourism, Mr Issa said.
More than 74 per cent of industry experts expect to see improved performance in 2023, according to a survey in September from the government’s Information and Decision Support Centre.
Another survey by Egyptian newspaper Al Mal showed an 11 per cent annual improvement in the tourism industry’s business sentiment in December. Six in 10 expect their total revenue to increase in 2023.
“Overall, I can report that the state of the industry is on the right path,” he said.
However, the question remains why Egypt is not attracting the number of tourists that it should.
A study led by Mr El Enany found that 55 per cent of global tourists would be interested in coming to Egypt, showing that “it is not a problem with demand”, Mr Issa said.
The product today is not ready and it is going to take us years to be able to build it
Ahmed Issa,
Egypt's Minister of Tourism and Antiquities
One of the issues is not having enough plane seats coming in to the country. There were only 5,000 seats arriving from Russia during the last week of July, compared to 30,000 seats in the last week of December. Accordingly, the number of weekly arrivals from Russia grew by 5.5 times.
Mr Issa said there is also a need to increase budget airline seats, in particular, which only account for one in seven of Egypt’s total.
“Countries with more than 30 million tourists all have a higher percentage of low-cost carriers arriving in their countries to be able to achieve that number,” he said.
A second issue is hotel capacity, with about 210,000 rooms currently available in Egypt.
“We simply haven’t built enough hotel rooms in Egypt over the past few years,” Mr Issa said.
“Countries that serve 30 million to 40 million tourists have about half a million rooms or so, so we need to build 300,000 more rooms.”
The rooms are also not well distributed, with only about 15,000 floating hotel rooms and 7,000 on the ground in the key tourist destinations of Luxor and Aswan.
The plan is to start with adding 25,000 to 30,000 rooms this year and grow the ministry’s investment in promotion by 50 per cent, Mr Issa said.
In parallel, the ministry will be working with government and private sector partners to improve the overall customer experience at tourist sites and create value propositions for independent travellers.
“The product today is not ready and it is going to take us years to be able to build it,” he said.
As part of the ministry’s digital transformation, 78 nationalities can now receive an electronic visa while 20 will be added in the coming few weeks, Mr Issa said.
About 180 nationalities can receive a visa on arrival, provided they have a visa on their passports for the UK, US, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, or Schengen countries.
In December, 1.7 million e-tickets out of 2 million visitors were issued at the country’s archaeological sites and museums.
The ministry will be measuring its performance in improving the visitor experience over the coming two to three years, he said.
“We are going to ensure that [tourism] in Egypt continues to grow by 25 per cent to 30 per cent per annum over the coming five years until we reach 30 million tourists by 2028, maximum by 2030, God willing.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
- Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
- Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
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Du Football Champions
The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.
Tentative schedule of 2017/18 Ashes series
1st Test November 23-27, The Gabba, Brisbane
2nd Test December 2-6, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
3rd Test Dcember 14-18, Waca, Perth
4th Test December 26-30, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
5th Test January 4-8, Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
MATCH INFO
England 241-3 (20 ovs)
Malan 130 no, Morgan 91
New Zealand 165 all out (16.5ovs)
Southee 39, Parkinson 4-47
England win by 76 runs
Series level at 2-2
Directed by Sam Mendes
Starring Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Daniel Mays
4.5/5
If you go
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Seattle from Dh5,555 return, including taxes. Portland is a 260 km drive from Seattle and Emirates offers codeshare flights to Portland with its partner Alaska Airlines.
The car
Hertz (www.hertz.ae) offers compact car rental from about $300 per week, including taxes. Emirates Skywards members can earn points on their car hire through Hertz.
Parks and accommodation
For information on Crater Lake National Park, visit www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm . Because of the altitude, large parts of the park are closed in winter due to snow. While the park’s summer season is May 22-October 31, typically, the full loop of the Rim Drive is only possible from late July until the end of October. Entry costs $25 per car for a day. For accommodation, see www.travelcraterlake.com. For information on Umpqua Hot Springs, see www.fs.usda.gov and https://soakoregon.com/umpqua-hot-springs/. For Bend, see https://www.visitbend.com/.
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How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
Indian origin executives leading top technology firms
Sundar Pichai
Chief executive, Google and Alphabet
Satya Nadella
Chief executive, Microsoft
Ajaypal Singh Banga
President and chief executive, Mastercard
Shantanu Narayen
Chief executive, chairman, and president, Adobe
Indra Nooyi
Board of directors, Amazon and former chief executive, PepsiCo
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Brief scores:
Huesca 0
Real Madrid 1
Bale 8'
