·
Arrivals
from Middle East to Egypt to grow by 11% CAGR to 2.23 million by 2022
·
Growth
fuelled by cheaper Egyptian pound and government incentives for charter
airlines operating international flights
Arrivals
from the Middle East to Egypt are expected to increase 50% from 1.49 million in
2018 to 2.23 million in 2022 with visitors from Saudi Arabia driving this
growth, according to data published ahead of Arabian Travel Market 2019,
which takes place at Dubai World Trade Centre from 28 April – 1 May 2019.
While
arrivals from Europe are expected to be the largest contributor on a regional
basis, increasing from 6.2 million in 2018 to 9.1 million tourists in 2022, the
latest research from Colliers International revealed arrivals from the Middle
East will actually witness the highest Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) at 11%.
Danielle Curtis,
Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said: “Over the last 12 months, Egypt’s
tourism industry has witnessed healthy and steady growth, with arrivals up 14.5%
from 8.3 million in 2017 to 9.5 million in 2018. Growth has been fuelled by the
cheaper Egyptian Pound and government incentives for charter airlines operating
international flights.
“Adding
to this, we are witnessing this growth first hand at ATM with the total number
of attendees coming from Egypt increasing 16% YoY.”
Taking
advantage of this resurgence in tourists are some of Egypt’s most prominent
tourism companies including Dana Tours, Nicolas Tours and Standard Tours who
will exhibit at ATM 2019 – and of course the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Board
who will have a major presence too.
Egypt
tourism capital investment is estimated to reach US$ 4.2billion (EGP 75bn) in
2019, up 25 per cent on 2018, as the country strives to keep pace with an
ongoing leisure travel boom and GDP growth.
The
data from Colliers
revealed that Egypt’s total tourism revenue will increase at a CAGR of 16.5%
between 2018 and 2022 – outperforming the business segment. During 2017 and
2018, the leisure spend was US$ 13.79billion (EGP 239bn) and US$ 16.67billion (EGP
289bn) respectively, while business totaled US$ 1.93billion (EGP 33.5bn) and
US$ 2.36billion (EGP 41bn) over the same period.
“The overall
revenue generated by the leisure segment in 2018 represented 87% of total
tourism spend and we expect this growth to continue as a series of new
government and private sector attractions and investments are unveiled –
including the development of new airports and new luxury hotel resorts in Red
Sea destinations Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada,” Curtis said.
Egypt
has a diverse range of source markets – decreasing the risk of being
over-reliant on one specific market. Germany, Russia, the UK and Italy are
Egypt’s top four source markets, with the first and last in top gear – both
growing 29% in 2018 – and showing the highest CAGR growth of 11%.
The
UK, which recorded just a 4% increase in arrivals between 2017 and 2018, has
traditionally been a long-standing major source market for the Red
Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh. However, an ongoing ban on direct flights
between the two destinations has stifled visitor numbers.
Curtis
added: “It is hoped the recent resumption of Serbian flights to Sharm El Sheikh
after a six-year absence and the introduction of Turkish Airlines’ daily flight
from Moscow to the Red Sea via Istanbul, will kick-start direct flights between
the UK and Egypt, and of course Russia and Egypt.”
ATM, considered by industry professionals as a
barometer for the Middle East and North Africa tourism sector, welcomed over
39,000 people to its 2018 event, showcasing the largest exhibition in the
history of the show, with hotels comprising 20% of the floor area.
Brand new for this year’s show will be the
launch of Arabian Travel Week,
an umbrella brand comprising four co-located shows including ATM 2019, ILTM Arabia, CONNECT
Middle East, India & Africa – a new route development forum and
new consumer-led event ATM Holiday Shopper.
Arabian Travel Week will take place at Dubai World Trade Centre from 27 April –
1 May 2019.
