Egypt – Side of the city of Aswan
Egypt has embarked on an ambitious plan to maximize revenue from tourism. Aiming to reach $30 billion a year from 2028, while hard work awaits it progressively reaching these goals, there is general optimism given current achievements and developments, and the sector’s resilience in the face of challenges of recent kind of challenge.
According to a statement yesterday by Egyptian Finance Minister Dr. Mohamed Maait, the industry is expected to generate a record revenue of US$14 billion this year (US$1 is equivalent to 30.9 Egyptian pounds), up from US$10.7 billion in the previous fiscal year.
According to Egyptian Prime Minister Dr. Mustafa Madbouly last September, the industry has averaged revenues of between US$1.1 and US$12 billion in recent years.
In view of the corona pandemic crisis and travel restrictions, Egypt’s tourism revenue fell by more than 66% in 2020 to only US$4.4 billion, compared to more than US$13 billion in 2019. Although it recovers about 68% of its revenue in 2021.
Given these indicators, and the government’s interest in supporting and developing the industry, how capable is Egypt of achieving the above goals? What are your main challenges on this path?
During the current tourist season
At the outset, tourism syndicate director Bassem Halqa said in an exclusive statement to Economy Sky News Arabia:
- This year’s tourist season is one of the highest-grossing seasons in recent years (taking into account the effects of various factors related to the fallout from the war in Ukraine).
- So far, the figure is about $14 billion by the end of the 2022-2023 fiscal year.
- In the last fiscal year 2021-2022, $10.7 billion was achieved.
- I believe that by the end of next month and the start of the new fiscal year in July, the revenue rate is expected to improve.
He continued, “It is a testament to the success of the Egyptian tourism industry in absorbing the economic shock that is happening worldwide due to the impact of the war in Ukraine,” noting that “tourism is beginning to make up for a large part of Ukrainian tourism and Russian tourism in the Before the war it used to be almost 35% of total tourism … we are starting to make up for that loss through other markets.”
The head of the tourism syndicate pointed out that the Egyptian government relies heavily on the sector to support the economy to provide and increase cash reserves, explaining that the goal of achieving $30 billion in annual revenue for the sector “is gradually being achieved….and they can implement it.”
In his statement to the Sky News Arab Economy website, the industry leader spoke of several arguments raised during the Egyptian National Dialogue meeting, referring to the investment authority’s call for investment opportunities in three-star tourist hotels, which It also constitutes an important nerve for the tourism industry to the public. The basis is that many tourist facilities are at the four-star and five-star levels. In the context of the pending development of the sector, he also monitors the following indicators:
- There is a trend to discuss the idea of utilizing closed residential units and buildings to convert them into hotel rooms to help accommodate more tourists, and is subject to the supervision and follow-up of the Ministry of Tourism.
- Banks also tend to encourage hotel facilities that are under construction but not yet completed, as they represent an added value to the number of hotel rooms in Egypt because of their speed of completion.
- Expand e-Visa to facilitate entry into Egypt.
- Facilitates licensing and approvals for yacht tourism, one of the most important forms of tourism with the highest spending and revenue.
He concluded his speech by noting that the Egyptian government was very interested in the document, “We, as leaders in the field, see that Egypt is able to achieve these goals, and this is only the beginning, and we may reach even higher goals in the coming period. interest rate.”
The Egyptian government recently included tourism in its earlier announced $150 billion initiative to support the productive sectors (agriculture and industry) at an 11% rate, bringing the value of the initiative to £160 billion after including tourism .
Egypt Tourism Board: Our goal is to attract 30 million tourists in 5 years
basic requirements
For his part, Dr. Hossam Hazaa, member of the Federation of Egyptian Tourism Chambers, in an exclusive statement to Sky News Arab Economics, identified the main factors that the industry needs to achieve its goals by 2028, as follows:
- The industry is on track to reach its annual revenue target of $30 billion by 2028.
- We need to gradually increase capacity every year from 210,000 rooms to 500,000 rooms.
- We also want to modernize the delivery fleet.
- And increase the number of hotels and floating hotels.
At the same time, the tourism expert emphasized the importance of investment incentives in the sector, which, in addition to tax exemptions at the outset, include facilitating access to low-interest loans for investors and businessmen, without arbitrary tax assessments.
optimism about achieving goals
The Egyptian nation’s strategic goal is to reach 30 million tourists by 2028 and to grow inbound tourism by 25% to 30% annually.
As far as Egypt tourism expert Mohammad Karem is concerned, he said in an exclusive statement to Sky News Arab Economics that the opportunities in Egypt appear to be great in terms of tourist attractions, both in summer and in the different upcoming seasons, especially This is in light of political leadership’s interest in the sector and the fact that some relatively new forms and models of tourism have entered the tourism agenda, such as yacht tourism and Holy Family Way tourism.
Egypt has the ingredients for a tourist attraction, while a boom in infrastructure helps support the sector’s aspirations to achieve key goals.
“All of this will help bring tourism back strongly for some time to come,” he added, noting the industry’s revenue target of $30 billion a year is expected by the 2028 target date, and the industry’s Development.
Estimates from the International Monetary Fund suggest that tourism revenues in Egypt may gradually increase over the next five years, reaching $28.8 billion by the 2027-2028 fiscal year, an increase of about 155 percent compared to projected revenues for the current fiscal year.
- $18.9 billion in 2024-2025
- $22.8 billion in 2025-2026
- $26.5 billion in 2026-2027
- $28.8 billion in 2027-2028
Tourism in Egypt contributes up to 15% of economic output and is therefore considered one of the most important sources of foreign exchange, along with Suez Canal revenues, export earnings and remittances sent abroad by Egyptians.
Tourism experts pointed out that in discussions at the Egyptian National Dialogue, the sector’s momentum is based on the fact that all proposed mechanisms, projects and laws related to the tourism sector are discussed through political parties, associations and people interested in tourism. The sector and the people who work on it, in a way that helps to present to all parties the many visions for the development of the sector.