File photo: Ballooning over Luxor, Egypt. AP
Cairo comes in second place in the trending list while Luxor is in 16th among a list of cities that also includes destinations in Australia, Mexico, and Brazil.
Moreover, Cairo also has come as the ninth best destination for city lovers in 2022 while Hurghada has been named 10th most popular destination.
These destinations have seen the greatest growth in search traffic year-on-year, according to a recent Tripadvisor survey. Tripadvisor’s methodology for “The Travellers’ Choice Best of the Best Awards” focuses on the quality and quantity of reviews and ratings from travelers on their platform over the 12-month period between 1 November 2020, and 21 October 2021, the website said.
Tripadvisor describes Cairo as an ancient city that also happens to be a modern metropolis, stating that it is one of the biggest cities in the Middle East and a splendid place to explore Egyptian history and culture. It is the city of a thousand minarets and includes unique and distinguished archaeological sites and touristic attractions as Tripadvisor said.
As for Luxor, Tripadvisor shows various activities for tourists such as the hot-air balloon ride over the Valley of Kings, archaeological sites on its east and west banks, as well as the enjoyable Nile cruises.
In April, the UK’s Daily Mail news website has selected Egypt as one of the best tourist destinations for the spring and summer, coming in second place on the list of top holiday destinations of 2022.
The website has chosen Cairo, Marsa Alam, Luxor and Hurghada as top destinations to visit in Egypt, adding that with the opening of the all-new Grand Egyptian Museum, visiting Cairo is a must.
This comes at a time when Egypt’s tourism sector has been struggling to recover amid pressure from the Omicron wave of the coronavirus pandemic, and – most recently – the Ukraine-Russia war, from where Egypt receives a major part of its tourism share.
In June, Egypt announced that it is lifting all COVID-related entry restrictions for all travellers, whether Egyptian nationals or foreigners, according to a statement by the Cabinet.
Egypt’s tourism sector had picked up momentum in 2021 thanks the return of Russian tourists to Sinai in August and also the international events held.
In 2021, Egypt organized two gala events. The first was the Golden Pharaohs’ parade on 3 April, when 22 Royal mummies paraded in Cairo from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to their destination, the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. The second was “Luxor...The Sphinx Avenue,” on 25 November, which was the reopening of the Sphinx Avenue after renovation to promote tourism in Luxor.
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