One of the world's best travel experiences is back in fashion
A cruise through Egypt packs in history and romance, whitewashed villages and cacophonous cities, farmland and sand dunes, and a whole series of splendid monuments that would individually be worth the journey, and together offer one of the greatest sights on Earth.
Tourism in Egypt has, however, been beset with a series of unfortunate events over the last 15 years. In 2010, just before the Arab Spring uprising spooked visitors, the North African nation received 14.7 million visitors.
Only last year did it finally manage to improve on that number, though not before tourism had dwindled to nothing during pandemic.
Current Middle Eastern woes have, however, had little flow-on effect on visitor numbers. In fact, market-data company Statista predicts Egypt's tourism market can expect significant growth this year and in the next few years at an annual rate of seven per cent.
There are various reasons for the uptick, among them the 2022 movie Death on the Nile, increased Egyptian government development of tourism facilities and river-cruise moorings, and restoration of several archaeological sites.
The recent opening of the much-anticipated Grand Egyptian Museum, which displays all the treasures of Tutankhamun's tomb among its 5400 objects, is also expected to pull in more visitors.
Bookings on Nile cruises have surged. The main season is October to April, but cruises have now been extended into the hotter months, and new ships are regularly launched.
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