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A strategic and volatile sector, tourism is at once a significant pillar of the Egyptian economy and dependent on shifts in the global, regional and local markets. Visitor numbers can be greatly affected by global events such as, in recent years, a global pandemic, financial instability, or security concerns. In 2025, Egypt set a record with nearly 19 million arrivals and continued to show promising growth in the first quarter of 2026, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. While nearby uncertainties impacted this positive trend in April, Egypt has previously proven its ability to absorb shocks and recover from external influences. Yet, with a national target of welcoming 30 million annual visitors by 2030, the sector faces challenges that, if addressed, can help Egypt compete on an international scale.
To better understand these challenges, CID facilitated a discussion with tourism experts whose insights reveal critical gaps and suggest how the private sector can support in addressing these. The contributions were from Mr. Haitham Nassar, General Manager at Hilton Cairo Nile Maadi, Mr. Amr Elhamy, co-CEO at Talaat Mostafa Group, Dr Alec Hansen, Private Sector Development Specialist, and Mr. Ahmed Helmi, Group Chief Finance & Strategy Officer at Reliance Group.
Q:The tourism industry is volatile by nature, how have visitor profiles shifted? What’s changed in how people travel to Egypt?
Haitham Nassar: This is really important and I think underappreciated. Post-COVID, we’re seeing a shift back to basics. People want to experience the classics—the pyramids, the core Egyptian experiences. But it’s a different profile of visitors than we were seeing pre-COVID or in the mass tourism boom.
The visitor that’s coming now often wants authenticity, wants to understand the culture more deeply, wants experiences that connect them to the destination. They’re not always looking for the ultra-modern luxury experience, but they do want quality and authenticity. This is an opportunity if we can cater to it properly.
Q: To adapt, how should Egypt’s accommodation sector change?
Haitham Nassar: This is where Cairo becomes particularly important. Cairo’s occupancy is around 80 percent, which is very high. But the accommodation options don’t match the visitor profile we’re seeing. We have lots of five-star properties, very few four-star options, but nothing in the experiential, design, or lifestyle categories.
For the post-COVID visitor, you need boutique hotels, design hotels, lifestyle properties that offer authenticity and culture alongside comfort. We’re starting to see this—there are examples of excellent boutique properties in Cairo—but we need many more. The opportunity is to accelerate the conversion of existing buildings, especially in historic Cairo, into these new categories of accommodation.
Q: You mentioned that we need to convert underutilized properties in Cairo. What’s the barrier to doing this?
Haitham Nassar: Capital and regulatory clarity. There are existing buildings and properties that could be converted into hospitality uses, but conversion requires investment. Banks are often reluctant to finance adaptive reuse projects because they’re seen as riskier than new construction. And there’s regulatory uncertainty—will the zoning allow it? Will the building codes be enforced consistently? This uncertainty keeps investors away.
What we need is dedicated financing mechanisms for adaptive reuse, and regulatory clarity that protects investor interests. Once those barriers are addressed, the conversion opportunity is enormous. Just in historic Cairo, we could add thousands of rooms relatively quickly through conversion rather than waiting years for new construction.
Q: You brought up investment confidence. What’s the relationship between local and international investor confidence?
Haitham Nassar: This is crucial. Foreign investors won’t invest in Egypt tourism if they see that local investors are unhappy, unprotected, or unprofitable. They watch to see if local entrepreneurs are successful. They observe how regulations are enforced. They note whether investors are treated fairly.
If local investors are making good returns and are optimistic about the sector, that attracts international capital. Conversely, if local investors are struggling or leaving the sector, that signals danger to foreign investors. So building confidence in the local investor community is actually a prerequisite to attracting foreign investment.
Q: How can we communicate the value proposition of tourism investment to investors who are sceptical? What’s the pitch?
Haitham Nassar: The pitch is simple: tourism is one of the most resilient and rewarding investment sectors globally and Egypt is uniquely positioned to capitalize on it.
Yes, tourism can face disruptions we have all seen that, but it is a sector that never disappears, it consistently rebounds, often stronger than before. More importantly, when it performs well, it becomes one of the most powerful generators of foreign currency, which is critical for an economy like Egypt.
For foreign investors, the proposition is particularly attractive because it offers a form of natural hedge. You are investing in an emerging market, but your customer base is international. This means your revenue is largely in hard currency, reducing exposure to local market volatility and providing a level of financial protection that few other sectors can offer.
Equally important is the proven track record. Egypt has multiple examples of reputable international operators achieving strong returns and sustaining profitable operations. This is key investors gain confidence when they see others succeed under the same conditions.
Beyond that, the demand fundamentals are on our side:
- The Middle East continues to grow in wealth and outbound travel demand
- Europe remains consistently drawn to cultural and heritage tourism
- Africa is an emerging and increasingly mobile travel market
Egypt sits at the crossroads of all three, with unmatched cultural assets and year-round appeal.
Ultimately, the real opportunity lies in this intersection of world-class demand, irreplaceable assets, and a sector that monetizes hard currency. When combined with ongoing improvements in infrastructure, regulation, and service quality, tourism investment in Egypt becomes not just viable but highly compelling.
Q: What are other challenges the sector is facing? Are there significant market distortions?
Dr Alec Hansen: When you’re trying to develop a sector, you need to understand where the market is broken. A market distortion is something preventing healthy, competitive outcomes. Once you identify what’s broken, you can design interventions—whether that’s policy changes, financing mechanisms, or regulatory reform—to fix it. In tourism, this means identifying the barriers that prevent a healthy, diverse, competitive market from developing.
Q: Is there limited product diversification in Egypt? Is this a market distortion?
Dr Alec Hansen: Yes, and here’s why. Globally, demand is shifting. Beach and antiquities tourism are growing slowly, but business tourism, wellness tourism, cultural and experiential tourism are growing much faster. Yet Egyptian government policies and financial incentives are still concentrated on the traditional segments.
This creates a market distortion where investors are incentivized to do what’s already being done—more beach resorts, more antiquities-related tourism—rather than exploring new, growing segments. It’s not that diversification isn’t needed; it’s that the market signals are pointing investors toward the old model. That’s a distortion we need to fix through policy and incentives.
Q: Environmental sustainability—why is this significant for Egypt’s tourism sector?
Dr Alec Hansen: It’s becoming increasingly important for higher-spending tourist profiles, and the lead times to improve environmental sustainability practices are long. Other countries are moving faster than Egypt in this area. So there’s a risk that Egypt falls behind on a factor that’s becoming important to premium market segments.
If environmental sustainability practices are not incentivized or required, we have market distortion where unsustainable operations remain profitable. This becomes a competitive problem for Egypt long-term as consumers increasingly prefer sustainable destinations. We’re essentially allowing businesses to externalize environmental costs while capturing profits.
Q: How does promotion support or distort tourism? What would a comprehensive media and branding strategy for Egypt look like?
Ahmed Helmi: Inconsistent promotion does create a market problem. Destinations need consistent, dynamic marketing to build brand awareness and attract repeat visitors. When promotion is sporadic or underfunded, potential visitors may not even know about opportunities or new offerings in Egypt.
This affects the entire sector. A small boutique hotel or a new experiential tourism operator can’t build a global brand alone. They need a strong destination brand as a backdrop. So inconsistent national promotion is a distortion that affects private sector success.
Amr Elhamy: We need to recognize that Egypt’s cultural assets are enormous. Our cinema industry, our music, our architecture, our history—these are globally recognized. We should be asking: how do we make Egypt aspirational through these cultural products?
We need to invest in flagship carriers and airport experiences, to partner with media—streaming platforms, entertainment companies, content creators—to showcase Egypt authentically. This isn’t about traditional commercials. It’s about Egyptian stories, Egyptian culture, Egyptian experiences that inspire people to visit.
We need to think about celebrity ambassadors and influencers. When international celebrities and influencers visit Egypt and share authentic experiences, that creates organic promotion that no paid campaign can match.
We need consistency. Turkey didn’t do this for one year and stop. They sustained their media presence and airline investment over decades. That consistency built trust and aspiration.
Finally, we need to measure the impact. How many people are inspired to visit Egypt because of what they see in media? How much does airline quality influence tourism decisions? These metrics should inform our strategy.
The bottom line is: branding and media are as important as building hotels. You can build magnificent infrastructure, but if people don’t aspire to experience it, they won’t come.
Q:Are there gaps in human capital development?
Ahmed Helmi: Human capital challenges exist everywhere, but they’re particularly acute in tourism in Egypt. There’s a shortage of qualified labour at multiple levels. The distortion is that tourism jobs don’t offer pathways to advance broader populations. This is both a social issue and an economic one. Better human capital practices would expand the labour pool, improve service quality, and create more inclusive economic opportunity. That’s a market outcome worth pursuing.
Haitham Nassar: I am optimistic. Egypt already has the product the pyramids, the Nile, the culture, and the history. It also has a strategic location and natural tourism assets that are nearly impossible to replicate. Yet there are more of untapped product that can be utilized.
What we need now is to address the operational fundamentals: accessibility, service quality, regulatory clarity, financing mechanisms, and human capital. These are all solvable challenges. This is not about creating new attractions it is about unlocking and maximizing the immense potential that already exists.
When countries focus on getting these basics right, tourism naturally rebounds and grows. Egypt is no exception we can absolutely get there.
That said, I would strongly emphasize one critical pillar: securing and developing the right talent. Investing in manpower with solid education, international exposure, and continuous training will be key to delivering the level of service expected from a global destination. Without this, even the strongest assets cannot reach their full potential.