2024 off to a good start despite regional tensions: Tourist arrivals in the first 40 days of this year were up 5%from the same period last year, Tourism Minister Ahmed Issa said at the CEO Thoughts conference yesterday, according to a Tourism Ministry statement. Egypt received a record 14.9 mn tourists in 2023 — in line with the state’s target to reel in 15 mn tourists during the year, despite the headwinds that the industry has been facing — marking a 27.4% y-o-y increase.

But hitting the country’s target for the year will still be a challenge: Hitting Egypt’s target to welcome 18mn tourists this year is looking increasingly difficult due to the geopolitical tensions in the region, but a turnout close to the target is still possible, Issa said at the conference, according to AsharqBusiness.

The ministry has ambitious plans to ramp up tourist numbers even more: The countryaims to add 25k keys to its current hotel inventory of 220k this year and eventually bring the total number of rooms up to 432k by 2028 to welcome 30 mn tourists a year — double the amount of visitors that came to Egypt last year.

IN OTHER TOURISM NEWS- The Tourism Ministry issued a ministerial decision establishing the formation of a chambers within the Egyptian Tourism Federation to promote private sector involvement in the hospitality sector and allow more room for self-regulation, according to a statement from the ministry.

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