Arab Tourism to Egypt Falls 11% Last October, Led by Gulf Markets

Saudi Arabia keeps its lead with 32,000 tourists despite a slight decline

Maghreb countries record a wave of increases, with Tunisia in the lead

Arab tourist numbers up 8% in the first ten months, reaching 1.5 million tourists

By Akram Medhat, Travel Yalla journalist

Last October saw a decline in Arab tourist arrivals to Egypt, at about 145,000 tourists, down 11% compared with the same month of 2014, who spent 1.3 million tourist nights. This is due to the end of the summer holiday season and the return to school, as Arabs, especially from the Gulf states, are similar to Egypt in this respect.

According to tourism statistics published exclusively by "Travel Yalla", Arab tourists posted collective increases from January to October 2015, with total arrivals to Egypt reaching about 1.5 million tourists (1,474,000 tourists), up 8.2% compared with the same period last year, which saw 1.4 million tourists (1,362,000 tourists). This increase was supported by Arab tourism recording its highest turnout of 2015 so far in the third quarter of this year (July-September), at about 518,000 tourists, as it represents the peak of Arab tourism in Egypt during the summer and holiday season.

It is worth noting that total tourist arrivals last October reached 909,000 tourists, of whom Arab tourists accounted for about 16%.

Declines Dominate the Gulf States and the Levant

Saudi Arabia topped the list of Arab countries with about 32,000 tourists arriving last October, but it recorded a slight decline of only 4% compared with October 2014. They spent 356,000 tourist nights. The arrival rate was higher in September, which recorded 48,554 tourists, as it marked the end of the peak season for Arabs in Egypt and signaled the start of the school year, which affected the turnout in October.

Meanwhile, Saudis were among the Arab nationalities with the highest growth, at 26% for the first ten months of this year, reaching 369,000 tourists, keeping Saudi Arabia in first place among Arab markets and fourth among all tourism markets.

Kuwait comes second in the Gulf, with about 10,442 tourists arriving, down 20.5%, who spent 171,000 tourist nights, compared with about 13,000 tourists. This indicates a rise in the average length of stay of Kuwaiti tourists in Egypt, which can reach two weeks.

As for the UAE, it recorded a 26% decline in arrivals, which reached 3,014 tourists in October who spent 24,000 tourist nights, compared with 4,085 tourists in October 2014.

The situation was not much different in the Levant and Mesopotamia, where the major markets recorded declines in numbers in October, most notably Jordan, down 22% at about 16,000 tourists who spent 103,000 tourist nights, compared with 21,000 Jordanians in October 2014, while September saw the arrival of about 20,000 Jordanian tourists.

For its part, Lebanon tried to maintain its stability with a slight decline of about 5%, with 6,572 tourists arriving who spent 37,000 tourist nights, compared with 6,905 Lebanese tourists in October 2014. However, the Lebanese also declined compared with September, which recorded 8,956 tourists. Lebanon is among the markets with the highest growth over the ten months, recording 67,000 tourists, an increase of 28.6% compared with the same period of 2014.

Iraq, "Mesopotamia", did not escape the wave of declines, recording 5,133 Iraqi tourists in October who spent 25,000 tourist nights, down 21% from October 2014, which saw 6,526 Iraqis.

Yemen had the largest decline in numbers among Arab countries, at 71.5%, with 3,113 Yemenis arriving last October, compared with 10,916 Yemeni tourists in October 2014.

The Maghreb Countries and the Upward Trend

By contrast, the Maghreb countries recorded collective increases, with Tunisia achieving the highest rate of increase to lead the group at 41.4%, with 3,191 tourists arriving in October who spent 11,000 tourist nights, compared with 2,257 Tunisians in the same month of 2014.

Morocco comes second with 3,171 tourists arriving, an increase of 7.7%, who spent 11,000 tourist nights, compared with 2,945 Moroccan tourists in October 2014.

Table showing the main Arab source markets for tourism to Egypt from January to October 2015: