The Egypt Tourism Authority has announced an increase in number of incoming tourists from Gulf countries in 2014, according to a statement on Tuesday that credited a recent marketing campaign.
Tourists coming from United Arab Emirates increased until May by 35 percent compared to the same time of the year in 2013. The number of tourists coming from Saudi Arabia increased by 6.3 percent and from Kuwait by 10.8 percent compared to last year.
The authority credited the increase to efforts made by the authority through the ‘We Miss You’ campaign that targeted Arab and Gulf tourists in particular to Egypt based on the security seen in the most popular tourist destinations like Sharm al-Sheikh and Hurghada.
Tourism Minister Hesham Zaazou praised the campaign, saying it was designed to meet needs of the Arab and Gulf tourists in order to feel the warmness of the Egyptian people and its government.
“Despite a decline in number of tourists coming from across the world by 26.2 percent, the number of Emirati tourists increased from 7,591 tourists during the first five months of 2013 to 10,250 during the same period in 2014.”
“A significant increase in the number of inbound Emirati tourists was witnessed in April and May by 36.6 percent and 27.3 percent consecutively, compared to the same period last year,” it added.
The number of tourists coming from Saudi Arabia increased from 92,436 tourists during the first five months of 2013 to 98,250 during the same period in 2014. A remarkable increase in number of inbound Saudi tourists was witnessed in April and May by 17.4 percent and 11.1 percent consecutively, compared to the same period last year.
The number of Kuwaiti tourists increased from 37,324 tourists during the first five months of 2013 to 41,362 during the same period in 2014.
Edited translation from DPA
