The opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) will redefine tourism to Egypt, Elhamy ElZayat, owner of Emeco Travel and former head of the Egyptian Tourism Federation, told Al-Ahram Weekly.
Aside from the official inauguration on 1 November, which in itself will focus international attention on Egypt, everything about the GEM from concept to content is remarkable, he added.
The GEM opening will act as a catalyst for increased visitor numbers, bigger spending per tourist, extended stays, and a stronger international profile for the country as a whole, Sherif Fahmy, CEO of consultancy the N Gage Group, told the Weekly.
Countries with strong cultural resources and investment in heritage-based attractions experience higher international arrivals and longer visitor stays, he noted.
Egypt recorded an increase of around 24 per cent in tourist arrivals during the first half of 2025, reaching 8.7 million visitors, compared to the same period in 2024. Sherif Fathy, minister of tourism and antiquities, said in July that Egypt aims to attract around 18 million visitors by the end of 2025.
The GEM is not only a new destination, since its location on the Giza Plateau also makes up a new package for tourists, said ElZayat. He explained that the Sphinx International Airport, located a half hour drive from the GEM, provides easy accessibility to the area and enables tourists to visit both the Giza and Saqqara Pyramids along with the GEM. This new package, he believes, will attract both first-time visitors and return tourism.
Fahmy agreed, saying that the GEM’s proximity to the Giza plateau creates a cluster effect, where tourists can experience multiple attractions within a single area supported by improved transport and hospitality infrastructure. This integration will likely encourage longer stays in Cairo, helping the capital reclaim its position as a central tourism hub, he said.
According to Fahmy, major projects such as the GEM are perceived by tourists and industry stakeholders as critical catalysts for rebranding Egypt’s image, attracting new market segments, and stimulating investment in surrounding hospitality and service sectors.
It has been shown that integrating sustainability practices, digital marketing, and partnerships with global tour operators —all strategies already embedded in the GEM’s operational plans — can elevate Egypt’s competitiveness and resilience, Fahmy stressed.
Adla Ragab, economist and former vice minister of tourism, said that a lot of effort has been put into marketing the GEM through social media, influencers, and bloggers, aside from the local awareness campaigns targeting domestic visitors.
She is expecting tourists from all over the world to visit Egypt as a result of the opening of the GEM, with people from Spain, France, Italy, the UK, and Germany arriving as a result, as well as Saudi Arabians and people from the UAE topping Gulf visitors. She is also expecting greater interest from Japanese and Chinese tourists as well as from the US and Latin America.
ElZayat has also seen a growing number of Canadians returning to Egypt in greater numbers since 2024. He believes that more direct flights can make a huge difference in decisions to come to Egypt. He would like to see more direct flights to different spots in the US, among them Chicago and Detroit, facilitating travel for more tourists from the mid-West of the US.
He sees greater potential from Latin America, particularly Brazil and Argentina, from where people have been coming in increasing numbers and whose nationals spend freely in Egypt, benefitting everyone in the travel industry down to the smallest souvenir shops.
He noted that steps are underway to stabilise the geopolitical situation in the region and that this will improve tourism gradually. Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli announced in January 2025 that Egypt targets to attract 30 million tourists by 2030.
According to Fahmy, the GEM will diversify Egypt’s tourism base. Historically, Egypt’s tourism industry has relied heavily on seasonal beach tourism and classical heritage sites such as those in Luxor and Aswan. The museum introduces a new form of high-value cultural tourism, appealing to international travellers who seek immersive educational experiences, he said. These visitors tend to spend more per trip, stay longer, and engage with other urban attractions such as fine dining, cultural performances, and shopping, significantly increasing the average revenue per visitor.
The GEM’s opening is also expected to stimulate substantial secondary economic activity. Hotels, restaurants, transport providers, tour guides, and small businesses in the Giza area will directly benefit from increased visitor traffic, Fahmy said. This will create thousands of new jobs, support local entrepreneurship, and generate higher tax revenues.
This is the “tourism multiplier effect”, whereby every dollar spent by a visitor circulates through the economy and supports multiple layers of employment and business growth, Fahmy explained.
He added that by blending ancient heritage with world-class architecture and modern technology, the GEM signals that Egypt is not only the guardian of ancient civilisation but also a contemporary cultural innovator. This enhanced image will attract not only tourists but also investors and event organisers, leading to broader economic diversification within the tourism sector, such as international conferences, film productions, and cultural festivals hosted in Egypt.
The GEM is not just an attraction, Fahmy stressed. It is a strategic investment capable of reshaping Egypt’s tourism sector for decades to come.
In order to realise the full potential of Egypt’s tourism sector, critical structural challenges must be addressed, however. According to economist Adla Ragab, more rooms and accommodation either in hotels or apartment rentals need to be available. There also need to be more and better tourist services such as public transportation and toilets and shops in every tourist location.
Connectivity, whether local transportation or air transport and airport infrastructure, is another important factor in ensuring a positive tourist experience, she added.
Fahmy agreed, noting that the ongoing privatisation of airport management in Egypt represents a critical shift towards world-class operational standards. For instance, the ongoing process to privatise the management of Terminal 2 at the Cairo International Airport (CAI) is explicitly intended to leverage international expertise for this very purpose.
A new infrastructure project is also underway to establish an additional terminal at CAI (Terminal 4), which is expected to raise the overall capacity of the airport to over 60 million passengers. These efforts collectively signal a commitment to bridging infrastructure gaps and ensuring that Egypt is well-prepared to accommodate a surge in international tourism, Fahmy said.
According to Fahmy, the implementation of a streamlined e-visa platform and the provision of e-visas on arrival has significantly improved barriers to entry, simplifying the planning process for international visitors. This digital transformation also extends to major attractions, with the widespread adoption of online ticketing systems for sites like the Giza Pyramids and the GEM.
This will not only improve the visitor experience by reducing queues but will also provide the authorities with invaluable data on tourist flows, origins, and preferences. This data-driven approach allows for the more effective and dynamic management of crowds and resources.
However, according to Fahmy, there are still some drawbacks that pose a tangible risk of creating bottlenecks that could constrain economic returns. The transportation network is a primary concern, especially when it comes to local connectivity. The existing road infrastructure and public transit systems, such as the Cairo Metro, are not fully optimised for tourists, and they lack integrated routes and multilingual support for seamless travel between the GEM, central Cairo, and other key sites, he said.
Congestion and disjointed access can detract from the overall visitor experience and limit the economic spillover to other parts of the city.
Beyond infrastructure, the human capital and accommodation sectors also require strategic focus. The hospitality industry faces the dual challenge of capacity and quality. Fahmy warned that hotel room supply in high-demand areas like Giza may be insufficient for the projected influx, potentially driving up prices and limiting options. Consistent service quality and professional training across the sector, particularly outside resort enclaves, are imperative to meet the expectations of a diverse, international clientele and to justify premium pricing linked to the GEM experience.
However, Fahmy acknowledged that current efforts to overcome these challenges, including the Egyptian National Tourism Strategy, provide a robust foundation for managing the anticipated surge in tourism. To accommodate increased arrivals, the government has collaborated with the Ministry of Civil Aviation to triple flight seat capacity and expand airport passenger capacity to 72.2 million by the end of 2025.
Alongside transport infrastructure, substantial investments are being made to increase hotel room capacity, with over 200,000 additional rooms planned in the coming years. In line with this, the government has recently signed a $265 million memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop new hotel rooms and branded residential units in key tourist destinations.
Licensing requirements for vacation apartment units has also been developed, offering tourists alternative accommodation and raising the country’s hotel capacity to approximately half a million rooms.
Fahmy said that the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Development Index 2024 (TTDI) shows that Egypt improved its ranking by 4.3 percentage points (from 66th to 61st place) between 2019 and 2024, signaling better enabling conditions for travel and tourism.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 30 October, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
Short link: