Tourism in Egypt

In 1976, tourism was a focal point of the Five Year Plan of the Government, where 12% of the budget was allocated to upgrading state-owned hotels, establishing a loan fund for private hotels, and upgrading infrastructure (including road, rail, and air connectivity) for major tourist centers along with the coastal areas.

Citing the Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany, Egypt's tourist arrivals plunged to 3.5 million in 2020.

[5] In February 2022, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva in a publication disclosed that Egypt's tourism sector was the biggest loser from the coronavirus outbreak.

Tour operators offering heavy discounts to encourage tourists back have been somewhat successful at the Red Sea resorts where prices remain lower compared to 2011.

[12] In 2017, the first group of Israelis visited the more popular tourist attractions with the aid of strong security.

[13] In 2017, Bloomberg said Egypt has "shed its years of social and political unrest" and made the top 20 list of 2017 travel destinations.

[15] The tasks of tourism security in Egypt are carried out by the General Administration of Tourism and Antiquities Police, which is responsible for developing plans to secure tourists and protect antiquities, museums, and cultural facilities within the framework of the general plan of the Egyptian Ministry of Interior.

However, during the 2010s and especially after the most recent 2017 Hurghada attack, tourism returned and regained its activity quickly to achieve high annual revenues.

Valley of the Kings in Thebes: Due to theft from tombs within pyramids, 26 pharaohs of the eighteenth to twentieth dynasties including Tutankhamun, Ramses the Great and Tuthmosis III had their tombs carved into the rock of the Valley of Kings.

Other Nile trips can be on a felucca, a traditional sailboat, on which overnight journeys may require passengers to sleep in the open air on deck and the sailors to double as cooks.

Passports and visas are required for foreign visitors except nationals of several Middle Eastern countries.

Cairo's three terminals receive flights from all major world cities including those in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

Located in central Egypt, Luxor International Airport serves the Nile Valley and acts as a gateway to tourist destinations of the region.

Most of the network connects the densely populated area of the Nile Delta with Cairo and Alexandria as hubs.

The Alexandria-Cairo-Luxor-Aswan link is served daily in both directions by air-conditioned sleeper trains of Abela Egypt.

This service is especially attractive to tourists who can spend the night on the train as it covers the stretch between Cairo and Luxor.

[33][34] Peak tourist season in Egypt runs from mid October to May, during winter and spring.

Winters are generally warm in the south of Egypt, but temperatures fall abruptly at night, especially in the desert.