Othman indicated on Monday that the tourism flow rate in both Upper Egyptian cities increased by 22 per cent compared to the same period last year.

He says this comes in addition to an 18 to 20 per cent increase in tourists’ spending compared to last year's timeframes.

Luxor is a popular tourist destination in southern Egypt and is known for its ancient temples and tombs, including the Karnak and Luxor temple complexes and the Valley of the Kings.

Aswan is about 215 kilometres south of Luxor and is famous for the Abu Simbel temples, the Philae temple complex and Elephantine Island, an island in the Nile home to several ancient ruins and temples.

Along with increasing tourism numbers, the two cities received Belgium's Queen Mathilde and Crown Princess Elisabeth, duchess of Brabant and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen during the Q1 of 2023.

Luxor and Cairo appeared among the top trending destinations in the world in 2022, according to TripAdvisor’s Travellers' Choice Awards.

Egypt received 11.7 million tourists in 2022, up from eight million in 2021, marking a 46.2 per cent increase, according to the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa's statements in mid-March.

The number of visitors to Egypt is expected to increase by 28 per cent this year to a total of 15 million, according to the minister.