Arab Tourism in Egypt Records Slight Rise in May, Due to Decline in Gulf Markets

191,000 Arab tourists visited Egypt last month, up 4%

Saudi Arabia records 34,000 tourist arrivals to Egypt, with Kuwait second among Arab markets

Across-the-board increases in traffic from the Maghreb, with Tunisia posting the highest growth rate at 42%

By Akram Medhat

Arab tourism to Egypt recorded a slight rise of only 4% last May compared with the same month of 2016, with 191,000 Arab arrivals, representing 33% of total traffic from around the world last month, which amounted to 574,000 tourists.

Meanwhile, the tourist nights spent by Arabs last May rose 95% to 2.3 million nights compared with the same month in 2016.

Some of Egypt's main Arab markets declined, most notably the Gulf states, while other markets recorded varying increases led by the Maghreb region, though most growth rates fell compared with previous months. Arab tourism is generally expected to pick up during its peak season in the summer holiday starting in July.

The total number of Arab tourists arriving in the first five months of this year reached 936,000, up 30%, spending 9.3 million tourist nights, an increase of 97%.

There are 12 markets representing actual tourist traffic of various types from across the Arab world to Egypt, according to Travel Yalla News' analysis of tourism statistics, as a number of countries from which actual tourist traffic is difficult to calculate are excluded due to their particular political circumstances.

Tourism statistics obtained exclusively by Travel Yalla News showed that total arrivals from the 12 Arab markets mentioned reached 104,000 tourists last May, compared with 140,000 in April, mainly due to the decline in traffic from Saudis, who account for the largest share of Arab tourism.

Gulf Markets Decline Across the Board

Although Saudi Arabia topped the list of Arab source markets for tourism to Egypt last May, ranking third worldwide, it recorded 34,000 Saudi tourist arrivals, down 23%, while they spent 392,000 tourist nights, up 41%.

In total for the first five months of this year, Saudi arrivals reached 236,000 tourists, up 26% from the same period of 2016, spending 2.2 million tourist nights, an increase of 57%.

Kuwait comes second in the Gulf and among Arab markets, with 21,000 tourists, down 12%. Despite the decline in numbers, the tourist nights they spent rose 15% to 174,000 nights.

Total Kuwaiti arrivals to Egypt from January to May 2017 reached about 79,000 tourists, up 16%, spending 764,000 tourist nights, an increase of 33%.

Emiratis recorded a 13% decline, with about 3,800 tourists arriving last May, and the tourist nights they spent reached about 35,000, up 13%. The first five months of this year saw a total of 23,000 Emirati tourist arrivals, up 27%.

Jordanian Stability, Lebanese Slowdown

Jordanian tourism held steady in May, matching the arrival rate of the same month last year with about 16,000 tourists and keeping its place third among Arab markets. They spent 135,000 tourist nights, up 54%, and in total for the first five months of 2017 about 76,000 Jordanian tourists arrived, up 17%.

Lebanese tourism to Egypt dropped to fourth place among Arab markets last May, with 7,447 tourists, up 15%, spending 75,000 tourist nights, up 59%. Traffic from the Lebanese market calmed after a strong surge in April, which brought 22,000 tourists and the highest growth rate among Arab markets at 89%, owing to heavy Lebanese demand at the peak of their season during the spring holidays and Sham El-Nessim in mid-April.

In total for the period from January to May 2017, Lebanese arrivals reached 47,000 tourists, up 28% from the same period of 2016.

Across-the-Board Gains in the Maghreb

On the other hand, tourist traffic from the Maghreb countries recorded across-the-board increases at high rates compared with other Arab markets last May. Tunisia led that traffic with about 4,000 tourists, up 42%, the highest growth rate among Arab markets, spending about 28,000 tourist nights, up 143%. Tunisians totaled 22,000 tourists in the first five months of this year, up 51%.

Moroccan tourism recorded about 3,300 tourist arrivals to Egypt last month, up 7%, followed by Algerians with about 3,000 tourists, up 28%.

Other Markets

Iraq, "the Land of the Two Rivers," saw relative calm, recording a 10% rise with about 6,300 tourists last May, while they spent 71,000 tourist nights, up 135%. Total Iraqi arrivals in the first five months of 2017 reached about 36,000 tourists, up 56%.

Bahrain is a promising market, and traffic from it is expected to increase during this summer season, especially to Sharm El-Sheikh. It recorded 1,640 tourists in May, holding steady compared with May 2016, spending 23,000 tourist nights, up 67%. In total for the first five months of 2017, about 10,500 tourists came from Bahrain, up 22%.

Table showing the main Arab source markets for tourism to Egypt in May 2017 compared with 2016: