During a plenary session of the Senate on Sunday, Ahram Arabic news website reported Abdel-Salam as indicating that despite Egypt's significant efforts to revitalize and promote tourism, its position is incongruent with its cultural wealth.

Tourism stands as one of Egypt's crucial sources of national income, she said.

“Nevertheless, indicators reveal that Egypt occupies the 51st position globally in the international competition for tourism and travel — a ranking inconsistent with Egypt's cultural wealth. In contrast, the UAE holds the 25th position, and Qatar is in 43rd place,” the senator added.

Her comments come against the backdrop of Egypt achieving a record-breaking 14.9 million tourist arrivals in 2023.

Egypt’s tourism revenues hit a record high of $13.6 billion in FY2022/2023, up 26.8 percent from $10.7 billion in FY2021/2022, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

Following are the seven proposed measures for boosting Egypt’s tourism industry.

1. Elevating the quality of tourist experiences by consistently providing high-quality services that surpass the capabilities of other competitors: this should be done according to pre-established standards that measure customer loyalty to tourist facilities and services, aligning with the diverse cultures and customs of different tourist demographics.
2. Marketing tourist destinations, creating a positive mental image of those in Egypt, and building mutual trust between the tourist and the visited destination: this aims to encourage repeat visits and the transmission of positive experiences to new tourists through “word-of-mouth.” Statistics indicate that positive word-of-mouth reaches up to 11 individuals, while negative word-of-mouth reaches 37 individuals.
3. Opening up new tourist markets alongside the current ones, targeting countries such as Australia, China, and South America, in addition to the European and Arab markets, which constitute 62.6 percent and 26.4 percent of tourism in Egypt, respectively.
4. Doubling hotel rooms, especially considering the more than 23,000 closed hotel rooms in Egypt. The multiplication of operational hotel rooms is of great importance, especially with the country's goal to attract 30 million tourists in the next five years.
5. Optimal utilization of Egypt's diverse tourism assets, such as the entire North Coast, during the moderate climate months that extend for ten months a year. This is particularly relevant, given the significant developments in New Alamein City. Assigning this responsibility to real estate companies with international expertise could enhance tourism management.
6. Embracing technology and digital transformation in data analysis, automated response to inquiries, and smart marketing and creating a virtual reality that portrays interesting tourist landmarks.
7. Enhancing societal culture and promoting tourist awareness among different segments of the population about the importance of tourists for a civilized country like Egypt: this aims to improve behaviour in dealing with tourists and providing them with assistance in a manner befitting Egypt's values, avoiding any exploitation, exaggeration, or misconduct.

Egypt, constituting a crucial provider of foreign currency, aims to attract 30 million tourists annually by 2028, thus doubling the current projected figure.

Earlier, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa said that the maximum number of tourists Egypt can attract per year currently ranges between 14 and 15 million.

"Right now we have 1,200 tourist hotels, 1,300 tourist restaurants, 12,000 tourist guides, 2,200 tourist companies, 130 archeological sites, and 31 museums," he said.

"We have to double our hotel rooms, offer low-cost air travel, and diversify our tourist products to achieve the target of attracting 30 million tourists per year." Issa indicated.

The number of tourists who visited the country in 2022 increased by a whopping 46.2 percent over 2021 figures, reaching 11.7 million in 2022, up from eight million in 2021.

Egypt has recently taken several steps to boost the tourism industry. In early 2023, the government eased visa requirements for travellers from several countries, including China, Iran, India, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, and Israel.

It has also extended visa duration from a one-month allowance to three months for yacht tourists and simplified visa application procedures online.

Moreover, EgyptAir, the country's national carrier, has recently launched new routes to multiple destinations in Asia, Europe, and North America.