Egypt Issues New 5-year Multiple-Entry Visa for $700

On Monday, the Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa announced that a five-year multiple-entry visa will be available for $700 for the first time, while a single 30-day visa on arrival can now be obtained by more than 180 nationalities for $25.

Among the handful of nationalities that have been added are Chinese and Indian.

The developments are part of a strategy to boost tourism, a crucial source of foreign currency and jobs for Egypt’s economy which has suffered from the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

The country, which attracted 11.7 million tourists last year, seeks to boost that number by 25 to 30 percent annually and reach 30 million by 2028.

Tourist numbers increased by more than 30 percent in January and February, compared with the first two months of last year," the minister said.

While the two leading tourist sources — Russia and Ukraine — decreased by 40 percent and 80 percent, respectively, other nationalities have made up for the loss.

Tourism increased from such countries as the US, UK, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. The number of Italian tourists increased by 250 percent.

Issa said he was confident that Egypt would reach this year's target of 15 million tourists, which would make it a record year.

“Even with the decrease of our number-one and number-two tourist sources, the results indicate that we will be able to reach or surpass our goal, God willing, in 2023,” he said.

China has the potential to become one of the top 10 source markets for Egypt, he said.

In 2019, about 220,000 Chinese tourists visited Egypt, of the 150 million Chinese tourists worldwide.

The pandemic cost destinations worldwide a combined $270 billion in outbound Chinese tourist spending in 2020 and 2021, according to data from the UN World Tourism Organisation.

China’s Minister of Culture and Tourism Hu Heping will be visiting Cairo from April 1-4 and meeting the tourism ministry to explore “the beginning of a new relationship”, Mr Issa said.