The Egyptian Tourism Federation has appealed to both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities to intervene urgently to halt the sudden draft decision to increase entry visa fees to Egypt by an additional amount on top of their current value of $25. The decision was recently approved by the House of Representatives as part of its approval of a government-submitted draft law imposing fees on services provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs inside and outside Egypt.
The federation stressed that this decision, if implemented, would have a significant negative impact on inbound tourist traffic to Egypt and weaken the position of Egyptian tourism in favor of its competitors in the region.
Hossam El-Shaer, President of the Egyptian Tourism Federation, sent an official letter to the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Sherif Fathy, calling on the minister to intervene swiftly to resolve this problem before it turns into a crisis threatening the entire tourism industry.
In his letter, Hossam El-Shaer said: "Within the framework of the ongoing coordination between your esteemed ministry and the private tourism sector, I kindly wish to inform you that we were surprised by what was published in the newspapers regarding the House of Representatives' approval of a draft decision to increase entry visa fees to Egypt by an amount to be added to the current fees."
"We would like to inform you that all tour operators have confirmed that this decision will negatively affect inbound tourism numbers and will cause all tour operators in all markets to reduce airline seat numbers to limit the resulting risks."
El-Shaer stressed that this expected negative move was confirmed by all international tour operators during their visits to the Egyptian pavilion at the recently concluded World Travel Market (WTM) London. Despite the strength of Egypt's participation and the great momentum seen at the Egyptian pavilion, the echoes of the decision to further increase the visa price overshadowed the positive atmosphere at the pavilion.
The head of the federation explained that one of the downsides of the decision is that this increase in entry visa fees to Egypt gives competing tourist markets a major competitive advantage, making them more attractive to tourists because they offer more competitive prices. He noted that the cost of trips to Egypt is currently about $120 higher than its closest competitors due to visa fees, aircraft fuel costs and ground service prices at airports, stressing that any additional increase widens the gap between those countries and Egypt, leading to a decline in tourism growth.
El-Shaer cited examples of neighboring countries that compete with Egypt, which issue entry visas free of charge to nationals of European Union countries, who make up the vast majority of nationalities arriving in Egypt.
El-Shaer denounced the issuance of such decisions at a time when the sector was expecting major facilitations that would help double tourism growth, building on the huge global momentum Egypt witnessed before, during and after the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, and the growing global desire to visit the Egyptian tourist destination.
