Viajes Carrefour & Dynamic Tours: We receive requests from 4,000 to 5,000 tourists a month to visit Egypt
El Corte Inglés: Promoting the North Coast and Alamein in the Spanish market and organizing a fam trip for tour operators next May
Sherif Fathy, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, met during his participation in the FITUR 2026 international tourism exhibition in the Spanish capital Madrid with the owners and officials of a number of tour operators in the Spanish and Latin American markets, namely Viajes Carrefour & Dynamic Tours, El Corte Inglés and Avoris, to discuss ways of strengthening joint cooperation, driving more inbound tourist traffic to Egypt from the Spanish market and the other countries in which these companies operate, and increasing their business volume in Egypt.
During the meetings, the minister was keen to brief the tour operators on some of the latest developments in the Egyptian destination, as well as on the ministry's current promotion and marketing policies and mechanisms, noting the importance of aligning tour operators' promotional strategies with these policies to make the most of the promotional efforts made.
The minister stressed the importance of diversifying client lists and targeting new segments of tourists through diverse tour programs, instead of relying on a single type of tourism, in line with the ministry's slogan "Unmatched Diversity" promoting the diversity of Egypt's tourism products and types.
Fathy explained that the Spanish market focuses mainly on the cultural tourism product, stressing the importance of diversifying the programs offered to Spanish tourists to include, alongside cultural tourism, other products such as beach tourism, safari and adventure tourism and spiritual tourism, with the possibility of combining more than one tourism product in a single program, such as Cairo – Alexandria – Alamein, Alexandria – Alamein – Siwa, Luxor – Aswan – Hurghada, or Saint Catherine – Sharm El-Sheikh, among others.
He noted that the tourism season in Egypt extends throughout the year, stressing the need for tour operators to take advantage of this and not focus on organizing tour programs only in winter, but rather expand promotion to cover the summer and focus on organizing tour programs all year round, helping increase the number of tourist trips to Egypt throughout the year and also giving tour operators the opportunity to benefit from the incentive programs offered by the Egyptian state, represented by the ministry, whose advantages and incentives are greater in summer.
The minister stressed the ministry's direction towards attracting new segments of tourists, especially high spenders, and offering them high-end services, noting the importance of changing Egypt's image in some markets as a low-cost destination and focusing on the quality of tourism products and services, with prices adjusted in line with the level of service provided.
The minister pointed out that the North Coast and New Alamein City saw great growth in inbound tourist traffic, with a 450% increase in charter flights recorded in 2025, making them among the most prominent new destinations on the international tourism map.
For their part, the tour operators said that Egypt's 2025 tourism season was outstanding, stressing that demand for Egypt is witnessing continuous and sustained growth and expecting a larger increase this year compared with last year.
Viajes Carrefour & Dynamic Tours
Officials of Viajes Carrefour & Dynamic Tours stressed that demand to visit the Egyptian destination is high, not only from the Spanish market but from all the countries in which they operate, revealing that Egypt is one of the attractive tourism markets, as they receive monthly requests from between 4,000 and 5,000 tourists wishing to visit Egypt.
They announced their intention to organize a professional forum in mid-February with about 250 travel companies and tour operators, to review the tourism assets and products of the Egyptian destination and discuss mechanisms for preparing diverse marketing programs combining various types and products of tourism. They also called for easing entry procedures at temples in Egypt and increasing entry gates at peak times, to reduce any congestion and queues at entry, especially as visiting times are fixed.
El Corte Inglés
Officials of El Corte Inglés explained that the Egyptian destination is seeing high demand, noting that large disparities in price competition negatively affect the destination. In this context, the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities stressed that the ministry tackles any individual price-dumping practices as they occur.
They announced plans to begin promoting the North Coast and Alamein in the Spanish market, especially given Spanish tourists' insufficient knowledge of these destinations, adding that they will organize a fam trip next May for a group of tour operators and travel companies working with them to this destination, to get to know it closely and include it in their programs.
It was agreed to cooperate and coordinate with the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority to invite a number of bloggers, influencers and journalists from Spain to visit these destinations with the aim of promoting them.
Avoris officials also reviewed the results they achieved in the Egyptian market last year, stressing their continued interest in the Egyptian destination, especially amid expectations of further growth in 2026.
The meetings were attended by Ambassador Ehab Badawy, Egypt's Ambassador to Spain; Dr. Ahmed Youssef, head of the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority; Mohamed Mohsen, Director of the authority's Iberia and Americas Unit; and Ahmed Nabil, the minister's Assistant for Aviation and Follow-up.
