Tour operators and travel companies: American tourists are interested in watching the total solar eclipse in Luxor expected in August 2027
Designing and organizing new tour programs to Egypt targeting adventure tourism, such as biking enthusiasts
Bookings for next year have exceeded the levels of the past two years
Egypt's Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathy held a series of professional meetings with a number of leading travel companies and tour operators in the US market, during his current official visit to San Francisco to open the "Treasures of the Pharaohs" exhibition at its second international stop after Rome and its first in the United States.
Fathy presented the ministry's vision and strategy, which focuses on highlighting Egypt's unrivaled diversity as a destination and its wealth of tourism products, types and experiences, noting that one of Egypt's most unique competitive advantages is the ability to link and combine more than one tourism product in a single program, creating new experiences and giving tourists the chance to move between diverse experiences and types of tourism in a short time.
The tourism minister noted the launch of the trial operation of the new digital system for issuing visas on arrival at Cairo International Airport from 1 August, helping to ease tourists' entry procedures and improve the visitor experience.
He also reviewed Egypt's 4% growth in tourist arrivals in the first half of this year, with arrivals from the US market growing by 2%, expressing his hope to strengthen cooperation with American tour operators to achieve greater growth in the coming period.
Fathy explained some of the measures the ministry has taken recently to deal with current regional circumstances, including modifying the flight incentive program and launching the "Vibes of Egypt" initiative, which relied on publishing live videos of tourists of various nationalities on holiday in Egypt. He noted that these videos were sent to many tour operators and had a great impact in reassuring tourists in various markets.
It was agreed that the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority will make these promotional videos available to travel companies and tour operators in the US market for use in their marketing campaigns about Egypt. He stressed that the ministry's current marketing messages focus on the authenticity of the tourism experience, while working to establish Egypt as an attractive destination for luxury tourism.
The meetings also discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in joint marketing programs and organizing familiarization trips for tour operators to Egypt to learn about its various tourism products and experiences, especially luxury tourism. Some companies also discussed cooperation opportunities for tour programs based on transit stops in Egypt.
The meetings included discussions with a number of travel companies and tour operators on designing and organizing new, specialized tour programs to Egypt targeting biking enthusiasts and other adventure tourism trips, allowing visitors to enjoy the authenticity of Egypt and discover its diverse natural destinations, in light of growing demand for this type of trip.
For their part, a number of tour operators and travel companies confirmed growing demand for travel to Egypt, pointing to rising bookings for 2027, especially with tourists' interest in watching the total solar eclipse visible from Luxor on 2 August 2027, and stressing that bookings for next year have already exceeded the levels of the past two years.
