Egyptian government to offer tourists new entry measures to revive sector

The Egyptian government announced it will offer tourists a five-year multiple-entry visa and add more nationalities to visa-on-arrival eligibility to boost the tourism sector, a vital source of the national economy.

In a press conference held Monday evening, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Eissa said that Chinese tourists can now obtain an entry visa upon arrival to Egypt.

"A multiple-entry visa will soon be launched for $US 700... [while] a single-entry 30-day visa-on-arrival will be acquired by over 180 nationalities for $US 25," the minister said, without mentioning further details on eligible visitors.

Ukrainian and Russian tourists constituted one-third of Egypt's annual tourist arrivals before the Russia-Ukraine war.

Turkish tourists will obtain an entry visa upon arrival without age restriction, while those under 16 and over 60 can obtain an electronic entry visa to Egypt from the E-Visa platform.

"The recent rapprochement between the Egyptian and the Turkish governments after almost a decade of the political feud has likely been the reason for offering such facilities to Turkish tourists," Ahmed Nebar, a researcher of political economy, told The New Arab.

Algerian and Moroccan nationals can obtain the same visa provided that they are part of a group.

Iranians will only be allowed to acquire a visa-on-arrival for visiting South Sinai through an accredited certified tour company.

Indian tourists holding a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) residence visa can also obtain an entry visa upon arrival. 

Similar facilities are offered to Iraqis holding a valid visa from the Schengen countries, Japan, New Zealand, the UK, the US, Australia and Canada.

Eissa further said Israelis would be allowed to come in groups to Hurghada in the Red Sea province but with the sponsorship of a certified tour company.

In 2019, Egypt received 13.1 million tourists, to experience a major blow in the following year after the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in Egypt in February 2020 lowering the number to 3.7 million.

The sector relatively flourished afterwards as the country received eight million tourists one year later.

Tourism is expected to rise by 28 per cent to involve 15 million tourists later this year, Eissa told reporters.

"In a nutshell, the government's measures will boost tourism and, in turn, the annual revenue; yet there are other factors to consider such as facilitating an enabling environment for the sector’s workers; many of them had quit their jobs over the past three years or were laid off by companies that experienced grave losses," Nebar concluded.