26 April 2017


By Yasmine Saleh

Egypt is aiming to boost the number of visitors it receives from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region by up to 25 percent this year, as part of the government’s plan to revive its tourism sector, a key contributor to its economy, a top tourism official said on Wednesday.

The number of tourists visiting Egypt's resorts and ancient sites slumped to 5.3 million last year, Hisham El Demery, chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Board, a government entity in charge of promoting the sector, said in an interview on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.

The figure was a big drop from 9.3 million seen in 2015 and from over 14.7 million in 2010, a year before the start of the Arab Spring uprisings in January 2011. The revolt, which was followed by years of political and economic upheaval, badly affected country’s economy and cut the flow of tourists and businesses.

However, authorities are looking to the GCC as a key market to help revive the sector. “The GCC is not a new market for us, it is one of our pillars,” El Demery said.

GCC travellers constituted around 35 percent of the country’s total number of tourists last year, a 13 percent increase from the previous year.

“We have achieved from the GCC and Arab countries in general almost 2 million [visitors],” he said, adding that he expects the number of tourists from the region to rise by 20 to 25 percent in 2017.

“We are looking at an increase from the GCC, we are ambitious and we think the (current) figure does not fulfil our ambitions. The first quarter of this year showed an improvement from last year in number of tourists from the GCC and other Arab markets.”

In a bid to encourage tourists to return to the country and showcase its tourist attractions, El Demery said officials have approached several international figures to act as social influencers, asking them to visit the country and promote it on social media.

He said prominent football player Lionel Messi and American actor Will Smith were invited to visit and came to Egypt few weeks ago.

"We are investing to host more international figures... We are looking forward to have famous singers to come to Egypt and have concerts in front of the pyramids."

© Zawya 2017