Tourists from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region will spend $2.36 billion in Egypt this year, roughly 11 percent more than they did in 2019, a report commissioned by Arabian Travel Market (ATM) showed.

Visitors from Saudi Arabia will be the biggest spenders, the research by Colliers International found. Saudi guests spent $633 million in 2019 and the number is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11 percent, reaching $1.13 billion by 2024.

“Total tourism receipts in Egypt which stood at $16.4 billion in 2019, will achieve an average 13 percent CAGR over the next five years to reach $29.7 billion,” Danielle Curtis, ATM Exhibition Director for the Middle East, said.

“Egypt also has a significant outbound market for the GCC. [About] 1.84 million visitors arrived in 2019 and this is estimated to increase to 2.64 million by 2024,” Curtis said.

Egypt’s top source market is Germany, with 2.48 million arrivals, a 46 percent increase over 2018 and a total spend of $1.22 billion in 2019, the report said.

The second-largest source market in 2019 was Ukraine, with 1.49 million visitors, almost a 50 percent growth over the previous year.

“Over the last 12 months, Egypt’s tourism industry has witnessed remarkable growth, with arrivals up 57.5 percent from 11.3 million in 2018 to 17.8 million in 2019. Growth has been fueled by the cheaper Egyptian pound and government incentives for charter airlines operating international flights,” Curtis said.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved in 2016 a three-year extended arrangement of $12 billion to support Egypt’s economic reform program. The arrangement is aimed at helping the country restore macroeconomic stability and promote inclusive growth.

The Egyptian government cut subsidies and floated its currency back in 2016 - measures that met key demands by the IMF to secure a $12 billion loan. The IMF projected Egypt's economy to grow by 5.9 percent in 2020.

Data and analytics specialist STR said that Sharm El Sheikh led the recovery in the hospitality sector, with its revenue per available room (RevPAR) “rebounding 315 percent for the November rolling 12-month period between 2016 and 2019."

Hurghada was the second top performer, with its RevPar increasing 311 percent, while Caira and Giza recorded a 138 percent growth.

“Underscoring those impressive numbers, we witnessed a 23 percent increase in the number of visitors interested in doing business with Egypt, up to almost 4,000,” Curtis added.

(Writing by Gerard Aoun; editing by Cleofe Maceda)

(gerard.aoun@refinitiv.com)

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