Is the tourism sector in Egypt affected by the “escalation in Gaza”?

The tourism sector in general in any country is considered one of the most sensitive sectors to various events, especially major events inside or outside the country, which are reflected directly or indirectly on tourist flows.

In Egypt, which is close to the epicenter of the raging events in Gaza, there is anticipation of the repercussions of these events on the Strip, which is one of the main tributaries of hard currency, and at a time when Cairo is witnessing economic pressures resulting from the dollar crisis.

Tourism sector

This also comes at a time when the Egyptian state is adopting ambitious targets to enhance the tourism sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product and increase the number of tourists.

Egypt aims to double the number of tourists over the next five years, to reach 30 million tourists by 2028.

The value of Egyptian tourism revenues amounted to about $63.4 billion during the past 10 years, according to data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics.

During the past 10 years, the number of tourists arriving in Egypt reached 90.1 million.

Egypt's revenues from tourism jumped to $13.6 billion in the last fiscal year (2022-2023), an increase of 26.8 percent.

long war

Many indicators have stirred anticipation about the extent of the impact of the current escalation in Gaza on Egypt in terms of the tourism sector in particular, including the developments in the escalation and what it heralds as a “long war” between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, in addition to the incident of the killing of two Israeli tourists at the Pillar of Masts shrine in the Mansheya area in Alexandria. (Northern Egypt) with gunshots from a police member responsible for securing the area, which prompted Israel to ask its citizens to leave Sinai urgently two days ago.

These indicators have a limited impact on the tourism movement in Sinai, with mainly Israeli tourists leaving, while the tourism movement is witnessing stability for the rest of the groups and in the tourist areas.

It is noteworthy that the number of Israeli tourists who visited Egypt last year 2022 amounted to about 735 thousand tourists, the majority of whom entered the country through the Taba land crossing, according to Israeli statistics, as many of them are keen to spend their vacation in Sinai.

According to other statistics reported by Euronews from the Israeli Airports Authority, in 2019, about 1.5 million Israelis traveled by land to Egypt.

Tourist cities in Egypt

Tourist cities in Egypt are witnessing occupancy rates reaching 70 to 80 percent, especially in Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh.

For his part, the head of the Taba and Nuweiba Investors Association and the head of the Tourism Committee and the Federation of Investors Associations, Engineer Sami Suleiman, said in press statements that there is, of course, an impact regarding tourism in both Nuweiba and Taba, given that “there is a state of war next to us,” pointing out. However, this impact is limited with regard to Israeli delegations only, while there is no impact on other tourist areas or cancellations of reservations.

Soliman pointed out that Egypt has strong tourist attractions, including those related to competitive prices, in addition to the state of stability and calm that the country is witnessing, and therefore “the chances of success of international tourism in Egypt are irreplaceable,” in reference to the country’s ability to maintain its goals. tourism this year.