European Arrivals to Egypt Drop 9% in August Year on Year

Poland leads the decline with a 65% drop, while the Netherlands posts the strongest growth

Analytical statistics issued by the Ministry of Tourism on inbound tourism to Egypt last August show a decline in arrivals from regions around the world compared with the same month last year, especially in the main markets. Arrivals from Europe fell 9% compared with August 2014 to about 677,000 tourists, accounting for 74% of the 915,000 tourists who visited Egypt that month.

According to data published exclusively by Travel Yalla, Russian tourism, Egypt's number-one source market, fell 15% to about 231,000 tourists, compared with 272,000 Russians in the same month last year. The drop reflects the continuing impact of the crisis that has shaken the Russian economy since July 2014. Over the eight months, Russian arrivals were down 7% at 1.836 million.

Poland plunges

For the first time in its history, Poland led the declines among European markets, falling 65% to 14,815 tourists, compared with about 42,000 in the same month of 2014. The summer months through the end of November are normally peak season for Polish travel to Egypt, but terrorist incidents in Egypt, most notably the assassination of the Prosecutor General last June, led the Polish government to issue travel warnings for Egypt. As a result, Polish arrivals over the first eight months of the year fell 19.5% to 170,000 compared with the same period of 2014.

The Netherlands shows the most strength

The Netherlands, by contrast, made a strong showing, posting the highest growth rate in August at 39% with 15,147 tourists, and a 32.2% increase over the eight months, with about 110,000 Dutch tourists.

Top 10 European source markets for tourism to Egypt, January–August 2015: