Egypt continues to show signs of a tourism recovery as the result of growing stability in the region.
A series of events including a revolution, a military coup and a number of terrorist attacks including the shooting down of a Russian airliner, saw the once prime tourist destination abandoned by visitors.
During political upheaval in 2013, JP Morgan analysts estimated the situation was costing the tourism industry US$400 million each month in lost revenue.
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But back in January, the head of Egypt’s Tourism Promotion Authority Hisham al-Demery said that tourist arrivals had increased by 55% year-on-year in the first 11 months of 2017. He also claimed that the average number of nights tourists spent in Egypt had increased by 100% year-on-year.
Reuters reported another government official as revealing that Egypt’s tourism revenues had jumped 123.5% year-on-year to $7.6 billion in 2017.
Now Intrepid chief executive James Thornton has given further evidence of a recovery, telling KarryOn that Egypt has “really started to bounce back” in terms of bookings into 2018.
“It’s obviously off a very small base but it’s still a good sign,” he said.
Turkey is also showing encouraging growth. In 2015/16, it was Intrepid’s number one selling destination, Thornton revealed.
“There were lots of challenges happening in that country and as a result, it dropped off massively, but it’s starting to come back,” he said.
In addition, Morocco is “flying”, with two of Intrepid’s top five trips in the destination.
“There seems to be a bit more stability in the region and as a result, we are starting to see some of the destinations that were popular in the past rebound,” Thornton said.
Intrepid isn’t the only company that is increasingly confident in travel to Egypt. Last year, Bunnik Tours held its very first Egypt mega famil, taking 45 agents to the destination.
Then, in January, Lindblad announced it would return to the destination this year with its 12 day Passage through Egypt itinerary.
Next month, Viking Cruises will debut Viking Ra, the first and only vessel to be owned and operated on the Nile by a Western company.
This year will also see Scenic make its return to the destination after suspending tours in 2013.
