Chinese Tourism Records 18,000 Tourists in Egypt in May as Indian Tourism Competes Strongly

51,000 tourists from Asia visited Egypt, as the pace of arrivals from Far East markets slows with the end of their peak season

By Akram Medhat

Asian tourism to Egypt rose 35% last May compared with the same month of 2016, with 51,000 tourists arriving from Asian countries and Australia, accounting for 9% of total tourist traffic from around the world to Egypt, which reached 574,000 tourists. The monthly arrival rate fell as their peak season for visiting Egypt, in winter, came to an end; it centers on cultural "archaeological" tourism in Luxor, Aswan and Cairo.

Tourism statistics obtained exclusively by Travel Yalla News showed that the total number of tourists arriving from Asia in the first five months of this year reached 297,000, compared with 178,000 in the same period of 2016, an increase of 67%. They spent 1.9 million tourist nights, up 110%.

Chinese Slowdown, Indian Upswing

The pace of Chinese tourist arrivals to Egypt slowed last May with the end of the winter season, which marks the peak of Chinese presence, but they kept the lead in traffic from the Asian continent, recording 18,000 tourists, up 43%, and ranking seventh among the top ten source markets for tourism to Egypt worldwide. Growth in the tourist nights they spent remains strong, reaching 161,000 nights, up 134%.

For the whole period from January to May 2017, 147,000 Chinese tourists came to Egypt, up 94% compared with the same period of 2016, spending 827,000 tourist nights, an increase of 116%.

Indian tourism, meanwhile, saw a strong recovery, competing with Chinese tourism for the lead among Asian markets by a narrow margin as the latter's arrival rate fell. It reached about 17,000 tourists last May, up 40% from the same month of 2016, its highest arrival rate since the start of this year. They spent 86,000 tourist nights, up 30%, putting India in tenth place among the major markets last month.

Indian arrivals reached about 48,000 tourists in the first five months of this year, up 35% compared with the same period of 2016, spending 298,000 tourist nights, an increase of 84%.

Japanese tourism to Egypt also slowed in May with the end of its peak season, with only 1,465 tourists arriving, a slight increase of 4% compared with May 2016. They spent 13,000 tourist nights, up 31%.

Japanese arrivals to Egypt reached about 17,000 tourists in the first five months of 2017, up 136% from the same period in 2016, spending 100,000 tourist nights, an increase of 99%.

South Korea comes at the bottom of the list with 1,069 tourists, a slight decrease of 3%, making it the only Asian market to decline. Korean tourists totaled about 6,000 in the first five months of this year, up 24%, spending 40,000 tourist nights, up 59% compared with the same period of 2016.

Australia: The Most Distant Tourist Market

Australia, one of the most distant tourist markets from Egypt and part of the Asia-Pacific geographic classification bloc, recorded a 10% increase, with about 2,000 tourists arriving last May. They spent 33,000 tourist nights, up 146% from May 2016.

In total for the first five months of 2017, about 11,000 Australian tourists arrived, up 29% from the same period of 2016, spending 145,000 tourist nights, an increase of 141%.

Table showing the main Asian countries and Australia sending tourists to Egypt in May 2017 compared with 2016: