Egypt Tourism Visitors to Rise to 14 Million

Despite attracting some 11 million tourism visitors annually and making Egypt something of a leading tourism and overseas property hotspot, the Egyptian Tourism Minister Zuheir Garana wants to attract still more tourists to Egypt. He has announced ambitious plans to increase the number of Egyptian tourists to 14 million by the end of 2011 which will require 240,000 hotel beds.

Egypt’s tourism economy has really only exploded over the last few years but already travellers to Egypt account for some 20% of all Egyptian foreign currency revenue. As well as hoping to boost the number of visitors to the Sinai, the government are also looking to increase income from the sector to approximately $12 billion by 2011 (a 26% increase from the level in 2007).

The increase in expected Egyptian visitor numbers and tourism income makes interesting reading for many foreign property investors who have already picked up on the fact that the authorities are set to take more of an advisory role in building up their attractions and tourist accommodation. The Egyptian authorities want to attract private investment into the area to fund the expansion plans, offering overseas investors a potentially lucrative entry route into a an increasingly popular holiday destination and a growing tourist sector. Property for sale Hurghada, Sharm el Sheikh and other main Egyptian tourist resorts is currently being snapped up. Savvy real estate investors seeking to invest Egypt’s property market and find a bargain are also eyeing up the up and coming diving resort of Marsa Alam and Alexandria on Egypt’s Mediterranean Coast.

Taking into consideration an increased global focus on all things ‘green’ the Egyptian tourism authorities are also looking to increase the Egypt’s exposure to eco-tourism and medical tourism, two areas which they believe will show substantial growth in the future. The building blocks for these two new tourist sectors are in place and with the help of continued promotion and marketing of Egyptian tourism internationally, they should start to make a substantial input to the Egyptian economy very soon.

Egypt has travelled so far in the tourist sector in such a relatively short space of time and the country has impressive future plans with overseas property investors expected to play a big part in Egypt’s new found economic success.

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Date: 5/22/2008