Trade Arabia Egypt tourism has witnessed a total of 8.6 million visitors in 2005 and expects and additional one million this year, according to senior government figures.
Total inbound travel numbers to Egypt are set to grow by over 10 percent in 2006, while some Middle East markets are poised to expand by a staggering 40 percent this year.
"The Middle East alone accounted for about 20 percent of the nation's global tourism traffic last year, and we expect that number to increase by as much as 30 percent this year," said Ahmed El Khadem, chairman of the Egyptian Tourist Authority.
"Middle Eastern tourists, PGCC visitors in particular, are a very important part of our tourism industry and are welcome guests in our country. For example, the number of travelers from the UAE increased by up to 40 percent growth this year, representing almost 74,000 tourist nights from January to March of this year," commented El Khadem, speaking at the ATM.
The industry is growing at such a rate that is seems set to break the 2005 record of 85 million tourist nights spent throughout the country's 170,000 hotel rooms.
A number of factors are contributing to the fast-paced growth of Egypt's tourism sector, which is valued at 11 percent of the total Egyptian economy, making it the second largest industry and the second largest employer. These include a range of exciting new attractions, in addition to the industry-wide shift to year-round tourism. |