Can tourism revenues bridge the dollar gap in Egypt?

One of the most important items of Egypt's strategy to attract 30 million tourists is to improve the tourism investment climate and increase the number of hotel establishments.

The Egyptian government is intensifying its moves in more than one axis within the framework of resolving the dollar scarcity crisis. Perhaps the program of government offerings and the promotion of tourism revenues are the most prominent in this file.

With regard to the tourism sector, the Egyptian government intends to launch a new stimulus package for tourism investment, as part of its aim to reach 30 million tourists by 2028.

The Egyptian Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, revealed that his country is working to improve the tourism investment climate and increase the number of operating hotel establishments, to achieve the required annual targets. 

Tourism sector

The Egyptian state relied on the tourism sector to increase foreign currency revenues, especially at a time when it was suffering from a shortage of the dollar and the weakness of the Egyptian pound.

Tourism revenues, which recorded $10.7 billion in (2021/2022), are expected to reach $14.4 billion in 2023, according to Fitch Solutions.

Tourism sector during 2023

Although Egypt is distinguished by tourism elements that place it among the world's tourist countries, the sector's revenues are not comparable to other Arab countries, as the UAE is expected to record revenues from the tourism sector during 2023, amounting to $40 billion.

Tourism and the dollar

An important question may come to mind about the ability of the tourism sector to contribute to bridging the dollar gap in Egypt?

The Egyptian government, which is working to increase the dollar revenue to $191 billion over the next five years, has entrusted the tourism sector with the task of contributing to this by boosting the sector's revenues by 20 percent.

At the same time, the government relied on the revenues of the Suez Canal, increasing it by 10 percent, to contribute to bridging the dollar gap.

While the Suez Canal achieved revenues amounting to $8 billion in 2022, Ali Kamel Mansour, a member of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Tourist Establishments and Restaurants, confirmed that if interest is paid to the tourism sector as an industry, it will provide higher income than the Suez Canal.

$50 billion in revenue

In the event of interest in the tourism sector, its revenues may exceed $50 billion, and the state will not even need to impose taxes on Egyptians.

There are other types of tourism that can generate billions of dollars, including health tourism with its therapeutic, hospital and facilitating derivatives.

There are 1,356 sites in Egypt that are suitable for medical tourism, and these sites must be counted with a study of offering them for investment, in addition to the establishment of health resorts for the elderly also generates large revenues.