Egypt’s Share of Global Tourism Grew by 33% Since 2019

Egypt’s share of global tourism grew by 33% in 2023, reaching 1.2% of the global share by the end of the year, up from 0.9% in 2019. Incoming tourism hit 14.9 million tourists in 2023, breaking the previous record of 14.7 million tourists set in 2010.

Anticipating a continued increase in tourism, the government and private sector developers are pressing ahead with plans to increase hotel capacity nationwide, having added 20,000 hotel rooms in 2023 to bring the total to 220,000. The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities seeks to increase the number of incoming tourists to 30 million by 2028, with the hopes of attracting new private sector investment to fulfil this goal.

In this vein, the announcement of a government package of hotel investment incentives is expected within days, aiming to stimulate the rapid growth of hotel capacity in Egypt and encourage investors to participate in the construction or eventual operation of new hotels. With tourism being one of Egypt’s key sources of foreign currency, this package may be decisive in building up government foreign currency reserves.