Egypt's cultural heritage Egypt's cultural heritage

The number of tourists from around the world who visited Egypt during the first five months of 2015 has increased by 9% compared with the same period last year, according to a report by the government’s tourism arm.

The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism has redoubled its efforts to attract new visitors and to sustain steady growth in tourism since early 2015 and it seems to have paid off.

According to figures from the Ministry, the number of visitors who traveled to Egypt in May 2015 increased by 16.5% from the number of visitors in May 2014.

One of the Ministry’s campaigns was specifically to attract visitors from other Arab countries, particularly Gulf countries. “Masr Qariba” (“Egypt is close”), is the campaign which targets Arab tourists from KSA, UAE and Kuwait.

The number of Emirati tourists is up by 48.3% in 2015 so far, with Kuwaiti tourists up by 48.6%.

In a similar trend, the number of tourists from all over the Arab world who visited Egypt in May 2015 also increased by 23.1% from the number of Arab tourists in May 2014.

The biggest growth market in tourists has been in Saudi Arabian tourists, which has increased by 67.2% in the first five months of 2015.

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Sami Mahmoud, chairman of Egypt Tourism Authority, said of the rises: “These positive results reflect that Egypt has fans from all over the world, particularly from our Arab neighbors. The steady increase in Arab tourists demonstrates their trust and belief in Egypt’s ability to provide its visitors with opportunities to enjoy the most beautiful touristic destinations.

Specifically, the ‘Masr Qariba’ campaign will continue to play a key role in attracting tourists and welcome them in their second home, Egypt.”

The Ministry is launching a new global advertising campaign soon, which aims to promote the importance of Egypt’s cultural destinations amongst youth demographics.

By creating tourist packages that combine visits to cultural destinations with opportunities to stay at beach resorts, the campaign hopes to highlight Egypt’s full range of offerings.