326,000 Asian tourists visited Egypt in the first 6 months of this year... and the Japanese post the highest growth rate
China ranks fourth worldwide in arrivals to the Egyptian destination with 159,000 tourists
An Asian lull in June with 29,000 tourists... and acceptable growth rates
By Akram Medhat
Asian tourism to Egypt rose 23% last June compared with June 2016, with 29,000 tourists arriving from Asia and Australia, representing about 6% of total tourist traffic from around the world to the Egyptian destination, which reached 533,000 tourists. This marks a significant drop in their monthly arrival rate since the end of their peak season for visiting Egypt in winter, which centers on cultural "archaeological" tourism in Luxor, Aswan and Cairo.
Tourism statistics obtained exclusively by "Travel Yalla News" revealed that the total number of tourists arriving from Asia in the first half of 2017 reached 326,000, an increase of 62% compared with the same period of 2016, spending 2.2 million tourist nights, up 112%.
An unrivaled Chinese lead... and an Indian lull
Chinese tourism to Egypt last June recorded about 12,000 tourist arrivals, an increase of 29% over June 2016, maintaining the lead in tourist traffic from the Asian continent despite a slower growth rate, as summer is not the Chinese peak season, and dropping to 11th place on the list of major source markets for tourism to Egypt from around the world. They spent 101,000 tourist nights, up 89%.
For the first half of 2017 as a whole, 159,000 Chinese tourists came to Egypt, an increase of 88% compared with the same period of 2016, spending 928,000 tourist nights, up 113%, placing them fourth worldwide on the list of the top ten tourism markets to Egypt.
Indian tourism saw a drop in the monthly arrival rate, reaching about 4,600 tourists last June, up 31% over June 2016, but it maintained a high rate in tourist nights, which reached 36,000 nights, an increase of 126%.
Indians recorded about 53,000 tourist arrivals in the first half of 2017 as a whole, up 34% compared with the same period of 2016, spending 334,000 tourist nights, an increase of 88%.
On the other hand, Japanese tourism to Egypt was also subdued in June, with only 823 tourists arriving, an acceptable rise of 29% compared with June 2016, who spent 7,600 tourist nights, an increase of 84%.
For the first half of 2017 as a whole, the Japanese recorded about 18,000 tourist arrivals in Egypt, up 127% from the same period of 2016, spending 108,000 tourist nights, an increase of 98%.
South Korea came at the bottom of the list with about 1,000 tourists, up 37%, while Korean tourists recorded about 6,800 in the first half as a whole, up 26%, spending 50,000 tourist nights, an increase of 68% compared with the same period of 2016.
Australia... the most distant tourism market
Australia, one of the most distant tourism markets from Egypt, which falls within the Asia-Pacific geographic classification bloc, recorded a slight increase of only 3%, with about 1,560 tourists arriving last June, while they spent 23,000 tourist nights, up 139%.
For the first half of 2017 as a whole, about 13,000 Australian tourists arrived, up 25% from the same period of 2016, spending 169,000 tourist nights, an increase of 141%.
A table showing the top source countries for tourism to Egypt in Asia and Australia during June 2017 compared with 2016, and the first-half total:
Country | June 2017 | Change | First-half total |
|---|---|---|---|
China | 11,537 | 29% | 158,535 |
India | 4,632 | 31.4% | 52,822 |
Japan | 823 | 29% | 17,768 |
South Korea | 1,003 | 37.4% | 6,835 |
Australia | 1,559 | 2.6% | 12,530 |
