For the first time in its history, Egypt introduces a 5-year visa for tourists and also expands the list of countries to which a tourist visa will be available upon arrival. The cost of the new long-term visa is also named – it will cost a tourist $700. This was announced by the MEHA agency, citing the words of Ahmed Issa, the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt.
“A five-year multiple-entry visa will be available for $700, and a single-entry 30-day visa on arrival can now be obtained by more than 180 countries for $25,” the Egyptian tourism minister said.
He noted that all these events “are part of the strategy for the development of tourism, the most important source of foreign currency and jobs for the economy of Egypt, which suffered from the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war.”
As a reminder, within the framework of this strategy, it expects to increase the number of tourists annually by 25-30% and reach 30 million by 2028. At the moment, the increase in tourist flow in January-February is recorded at the level of more than 30%.
The flow of tourists has increased from such countries as the USA, Great Britain, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. Thus, the number of Italian tourists increased by 250%. Egypt is also hoping for the return of Chinese tourists, who are considered to be potentially one of the largest markets. In 2019, Egypt received about 220,000 Chinese tourists.
Mr. Issa added that he was confident Egypt would reach its target of 15 million tourists this year, making it a record year. “Even with the decline in Russian tourism (a 40% drop), the results show that we will be able to meet or exceed our target, God willing, in 2023,” he said.