Sector fully recovered last year
Continued growth expected this year
London, UK: The World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) 2024 Economic Impact Research (EIR) has today revealed that the sector’s contribution to Egypt’s GDP grew almost 24% last year to reach a record E£953BN - nearly 21% ahead of the previous peak.
The data also shows that across sector jobs, international and domestic visitor spending, the sector fully recovered last year to reach record-breaking levels.
Domestic visitor spending grew almost 9% year-on-year to reach more than E£328.5BN, while spending by international visitors saw a strong 38.5% year-on-year growth last year, to reach E£470.4BN.
Jobs supported by the sector grew almost 10% to reach more than 2.5MN, representing one in 12 jobs across Egypt.
Although this is strong recovery, it continues to lag previous record job numbers for the sector, set 15 years ago in 2008, when job numbers reached 3.7MN.
Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said; "Egypt’s Travel & Tourism sector has made an extraordinary recovery, surging past previous records, highlighting the sector's resilience and its vital role in Egypt’s economy.
“The Egyptian Government recognises the value of Travel & Tourism to the Egyptian economy and jobs, placing it at the forefront of the agenda, with a real focus on investment.”
What Does This Year Look Like?
This year, the sector’s GDP contribution is forecast to reach almost E£988BN, accounting for 8.1% of Egypt’s economy.
International visitor spending is anticipated to grow 6.2% to reach just under E£500BN this year, with domestic visitor spending expected to reach over E£340BN.
Sector jobs are projected to grow 5.7% to reach 2.67MN, to account for almost one in 11 jobs in Egypt, although still below the previous peak.
What Does the Next Decade Look Like?
With the right government support, WTTC is forecasting that the sector could grow its annual GDP contribution to E£1.57TN by 2034, representing 9.6% of Egypt’s economy, and could potentially employ almost 4MN people across the country.
What Does the Region Look Like?
Across North Africa, the Travel & Tourism sector is forecast to contribute E£2.2TN to the regional economy this year, accounting for 8.5% of the total.
Sector-supported jobs are expected to rise to 5.3MN, representing one in 11 jobs across the region.
Domestic visitor spending is projected to reach E£960BN, whilst international visitor spending is anticipated to reach E£1TN this year.
See all the data in our Egypt Travel & Tourism Economic Impact Report on the WTTC Research Hub.
For more information, please visit wttc.org.
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Editors Notes
This cutting-edge research was carried out in partnership with Oxford Economics. All values are in constant 2023 prices and exchange rates, as reported in March 2024. All figures are given in EGP.
The North African economies referenced in the regional data are Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia.