Egypt aims to double the number of tourists to reach 30 million by 2028, tourism minister says

abcnews.go.com:

Egypt's Tourism and Antiquities Minister Ahmed Issa says they are seeking to double the number of tourists in the next five years, to reach 30 million visitors by 2028

CAIRO — Egypt is seeking to double the number of visitors to the country in the next five years, its top tourism official told The Associated Press.

Egypt is aiming at reaching 30 million visitors by 2028, as its once-thriving tourism sector recovers from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic and the grinding war in Europe following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Tourism and Antiquities Minister Ahmed Issa said Tuesday.

“We’re seeing unparalleled demand, unprecedented demand for travel into Egypt,” Issa said in an interview.

He said Egypt had received 10 million tourists in the first eight months of 2023, and was “well on track to achieve around 15 million this year, which is going to be a record year for the tourism industry.”

The sector is a major source of foreign currency for the cash-strapped North African country. Last year, tourism revenues surged to $10.7 billion, up from around $5 billion in 2021, according to the Egyptian central bank.

The government’s plan focuses on what he calls the “supply side,” which includes increasing the number of hotel rooms in the country and seats on flights to Egypt by more than 30% annually, as well as encouraging more private investment in the tourism sector.

Issa said they would add 25,000 hotel rooms to Egypt’s current capacity of about 210,000. Such an increase, he said, would help the government achieve its target of 18 million tourist visits in 2024.

“That will be the fastest growth in (hotel) rooms in Egypt over the past 20 years,” he said.

Egypt has made a years-long effort to revive its battered tourism