Although international tourism has recovered to pre-pandemic levels on a global scale, great differences remain from destination to destination, with some greatly exceeding 2019 levels and others remaining far behind. Egypt is one of the countries that was slower in getting back to the same level of international tourists it used to receive before Covid, but the war in Gaza has further hindered that effort.
“The conflict’s proximity to the Sinai Peninsula has led to a sharp decline in tourism, which brought in $13.63 billion in revenue during the 2022-23 fiscal year”, Amr Salah Mohamed, an adjunct lecturer at George Mason University, told Al Jazeera. “Although the full extent of the damage to Egyptian tourism from the ongoing conflict is difficult to quantify so far, early indications, such as a 25% drop in early November bookings, suggest a substantial downturn that is likely to continue if the conflict persists.”
An analysis conducted by ForwardKeys in November already placed Egypt as one of the most affected countries in terms of flight booking. Coming in 5th place after Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Lebanon, bookings to Egypt decreased by 35% in the three weeks after the beginning of the conflict compared to the three weeks prior 8 October.
The county’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa has confirmed the great impact of the war on tourism, telling Skift amid ITB Berlin, that only 3.6 million tourists visited Egypt in the last quarter of 2023, but over 4.2 million were expected. Extending into 2024, “In the first two months of the year, we’ve seen a growth of 6% vis-à-vis the same period last year. We were expecting 20%”, Issa said. “Where we’ve seen the most decline is in cultural tourism which the Americans are really interested in.”
“Canada and the US are down the most and have been slow to recover”, said Yves Marceau, vice president of product for adventure tour operator G Adventures. Although not back to pre-October levels yet, “the UK and Europe are bouncing back faster”, Marceau added.
Despite the decreased intent of travelling to the country in the last few months of 2023, Egypt still ended last year having welcomed a record 14.9 million tourists, according to the Mistry of Tourism and Antiquities. To build on that success for 2024 and overcome the effects of the war, the ministry has started offering incentives to airlines and tour operators for promoting Egypt. According to Issa, they want to “de-risk the product” by reimbursing operators for their marketing programs.
Yesterday, 25 March, the United Nations adopted a resolution “demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza”, if, when or how that will be implemented remains to be seen, but, in the meantime, Egypt’s tourism revenues are set to experience a 10-30% fall from last year, which could cost the country 4-11% of its foreign exchange reserves and shrink GDP, according to S&P Global Ratings.
This year, Egypt is supposed to finally open the Grand Egyptian Museum, a $1 billion project that has been in the making since 1990s and has been repeatedly delayed over the decades due to unforeseen circumstances. Whether or not the tourism slowdown will affect the opening remains to be seen.
