74% of visitors in Luxor are largely domestic with Egyptians keen to discover the history and civilization of their country, said the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled Al-Anani.
Al-Anani expressed his happiness at the return of cultural tourism in Egypt, after a long hiatus over 2020 due to the novel corona virus pandemic.
The minister revealed that there are now about 40 floating hotels operating between Luxor and Aswan, which were only about 10 a few days ago.
Luxor currently has occupancy rates of 16%, which is indeed good given the difficulties circling the tourism sector in recent months, according to Mohamed Osman, the Chairperson of the Marketing and Promotion Committee in Upper Egypt.
“It’s time to deal with the domestic arrivals, not only as an alternative to the international arrivals but also as a main component for tourism in Egypt,” said Osman.
Al-Anani said that the “Enjoy your winter in Egypt” initiative launched by the Tourism Ministry in collaboration with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Egyptian Hotel Association will revive domestic tourism.
This is aimed towards encouraging Egyptians to visit their country’s antiquities, with reduced domestic air ticket prices to major tourism cities.
Osman said that most of the countries exporting tourists to Egypt are now banning travel, due to the global second wave of the corona virus which affected international tourism arrivals to Luxor.
“Currently, the large percentage of international arrivals to Luxor are from Eastern Europe,” Osman added.
During the Minister’s tour to the Karnak Temple Complex in Luxor, Al-Anani met with tourist groups from Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and Switzerland who arrived in Luxor on day trips from Hurghada.
Tags: 74% of visitors, Luxor, Egypt
