By Akram Medhat
Following the ban on Qatari aviation in Egyptian airspace, Qatari tourism will come to an almost complete halt, especially as Qatar's neighboring countries have taken the same measure, leaving it like an island cut off from its brothers in the Arabian Gulf. So how strong is Qatari tourism in Egypt?
According to tourism statistics obtained exclusively by “Travel Yalla News,” the number of tourists arriving from Qatar accounts for only about 1% of total Arab tourism to Egypt. The market does not see major growth in traffic and always remains stable, at times recording limited increases or slight declines.
The number of Qatari tourists in 2016 reached 23,222, a slight increase of only 1% compared with 2015, while they spent 132,000 tourist nights, a decrease of 44%.
This figure represents about 1% of Arab tourism to Egypt last year, which recorded 2 million tourists. Qatar is one of the 12 main Arab tourism markets, which total 1.2 million tourists, of which Qataris account for 2%.
It is worth noting that tourist traffic from Qatar is among the lowest of the Arab markets, with the number of Qataris entering Egypt from January to April 2017 reaching about 7,800 tourists, up 11%, spending 50,000 tourist nights, down 8% from the same period last year.
As for the development of Qatari tourist traffic this year, 2,462 tourists arrived last January, up 22% compared with January 2016; February then recorded 1,169 Qataris, up 8% from the same month last year; and March saw the highest growth rate, 41%, recording 1,603 tourists.
Qatar was the only market on the list of Arab markets to record a decline last April, with 2,500 tourists arriving, one of the best months this year, down 8%, while Qatari tourist nights reached 14,000, up 48%.
The peak year of 2010 saw the highest number of Qatari arrivals to Egypt, at about 25,000 tourists, while 2011 and 2013 were the lowest, with about 16,000 Qatari tourists each.
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