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Arab Finance: Entlaq, a Cairo-based leading policy and research think tank, has officially launched Egypt’s Tourism Sector Performance Report, in partnership with El Gouna as Platinum Sponsor, as per an emailed press release.
The report showed that Egypt welcomed 15.7 million international tourists in 2024, the highest annual arrivals in the country’s history.
Tourism currently contributes approximately 8.5% to the gross domestic product (GDP), generating $14–15 billion in annual foreign exchange earnings, the report noted. The sector also directly and indirectly supports around 2.5 million jobs.
However, the value capture per visitor remains below potential, which limits productivity gains and long-term resilience, Entlaq said in its report.
Commenting on the findings, Omar Rezk, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Entlaq, said: “Egypt’s tourism sector has proven its global appeal, with record arrivals, a strong post-pandemic recovery, and renewed momentum following the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum. However, the real challenge today is value creation”
“Our analysis shows that without coordinated reform across governance, licensing, digital infrastructure, and MSME enablement, tourism growth will remain concentrated and low-productivity,” he added.
Rezk continued: “Egypt’s Tourism Sector Performance Report demonstrates that with a unified digital and TourismTech-driven approach, the sector can double its economic contribution by 2030 and shift tourism from a volume-led model to a high-value, innovation-driven engine of inclusive growth.”
Moreover, the report finds that Egypt’s tourism constraints are no longer rooted in demand or global competitiveness, but in system-level fragmentation.
Tourism licensing timelines in Egypt typically range from six to 12 months, involve 10 to 16 separate approvals, and remain only 10–30% digitized, according to the report.
In contrast, leading peer markets such as the UAE average one to two months for licensing, with 85–95% digital completion, creating a clear competitive disadvantage for Egyptian tourism startups and MSMEs, Entlaq pointed out.
The report also presents an integrated reform agenda spanning digital infrastructure, governance, MSME enablement, and human capital.
It highlights that broadband expansion alone can add 1.3–2.0% to GDP for every 10% increase in penetration, while SME digitization programs can raise enterprise revenues by 20–26%. Smart destination management systems could reduce congestion-related revenue losses of 15–20% at major heritage sites.
Scenario-based modeling shows that under a full reform scenario, tourism’s GDP contribution could rise from 8.5% (EGP 1.4 trillion) to 15% by 2030, generating an additional EGP 1.8–2.1 trillion in value added.
Annual foreign exchange earnings could increase to $25–30 billion, while direct employment could expand from 2.3 million to 3.5–3.7 million jobs, with indirect employment approaching 6 million.
Tourism-related fiscal revenues from MSMEs could grow from EGP 5 billion today to EGP 20–25 billion annually, while venture capital inflows into TourismTech could expand four- to fivefold, reaching up to $1 billion.
The report concludes that with coordinated reform, Egypt’s tourism sector can evolve from a high-volume recovery model into a high-value, innovation-led engine of inclusive growth and economic resilience in a rapidly transforming global tourism economy.
