Our tourism industry seems to be weathering the storm: Egypt welcomed around 13 mn tourists in the first nine months of the year, Deputy Tourism Minister Ghada Shalaby told Al Arabiya yesterday. This puts us on track to hit our target of 15 mn visitors in 2023, up 32% on the year before, despite geopolitical tensions stemming from the onset of the war in Gaza.

An increase in tourist footfall means an increase in tourism revenues, which are predicted to reach USD 14 bn by the end of the year, a rise of nearly 15% on 2022, Shalaby told the Saudi outlet. And with foreign tourists comes foreign currency, which we have never been so keen to pick up as we are now.

Some thought it was going to be much worse: Just three weeks after the outbreak of the war on Gaza, IMF Director Kristalina Georgieva warned that “uncertainty is a killer for tourists inflows” and that in “Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan … the channels of impact are already visible,” according to Reuters. Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly also warned of the war’s potential impact on tourism during a meeting with ministers and central bank officials two weeks ago.

Targets for 2024 have remained ambitious: We’re planning on upping the number of tourists 20% to 18 mn in 2024, said Tourism Minister Ahmed Issa, cited by the outlet. He also projected a jump in tourism revenues next year by 25%.

ICYMI- EgyptAir still seems pretty optimistic about our tourism industry: EgyptAir brought the big bucks to the Dubai Air Show earlier this month, placing an order for the lease of 18 new Boeing airplanes and signed a contract with Airbus for another 10 new aircraft.

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