File Photo: Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Eissa during a ceremony organized on Tuesday evening in celebration of the 200th anniversary of deciphering the Egyptian hieroglyphs carved into the Rosetta Stone. Photo courtesy of Tourism Ministry
In a press conference held today, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa announced that tourists from China can obtain an entering visa upon arrival to Egypt, while Indian tourists who hold a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) resident visa can obtain an entering visa upon arrival to Egypt.
These facilities, he said, go hand in hand with the facilities already offered to holders of a valid and used entry visa from Schengen countries, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Japan, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
Turkish tourists can obtain Egypt entry visa upon arrival without age restriction, while Algerian and Moroccan tourists can obtain the same visa on the condition that they are part of a tourist group.
Tourists from Iran will be allowed to obtain a visa upon arrival when heading only to South Sinai through a certified tourist agency.
As for Israeli tourists, the ministry announced that Israelis would be allowed to come in groups to Hurghada, with the sponsorship of certified tourism companies.
Meanwhile, those coming from Iraq can now obtain a visa upon arrival to Egypt on the condition that they hold a valid and used visa to Schengen countries, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Japan, Australia, Canada or New Zealand.
Those under 16 and over 60 can obtain an electronic entry visa to Egypt from the E-Visa platform.
Issa also pointed out that soon the government will announce a new multi entry visa to Egypt valid for five years which will be issued for a fee of $700.
Egypt received 11.7 million tourists in 2022, up from eight million in 2021, marking a 46.2 percent increase, according to statements by Issa in mid-March.
The number of visitors to Egypt is expected to increase by 28 percent this year to 15 million, according to the minister.
Egypt’s tourism sector was dealt a hard blow by the COVID-19 pandemic, with revenue dropping from $13.03 billion in 2019 to $4.1 billion in 2020. However, the sector has begun since mid-2021 to flourish as Egypt secured $10.7 billion in tourism revenue in FY 2021/2022, up from $4.9 billion in FY 2020/2021, according to the Central Bank of Egypt in October.
Egypt received 13.1 million tourists in 2019, 3.7 million in 2020, and eight million in 2021.
The country, which has 1,200 tourist hotels, hopes to double tourist numbers to 25-30 million by 2028.
Short link: