The Ministry of Interior has issued directives to grant foreign tourists arriving to Egypt on board foreign tourist yachts a tourist residence for three months instead of just one.
The government also indicated in its Tuesday statement that the Foreign Ministry ordered all Egyptian embassies and consulates abroad to implement the decision.
The Transport Ministry announced that Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly had previously issued directives during the cabinet meeting, to the relevant ministries to take the necessary measures to extend the validity period of the tourist visa for foreign tourists coming on yachts.
This decision was made to account for the difficulties tourists coming on yachts may face due to due to natural factors or emergency situations (bad weather conditions – malfunctions that prevent the yacht from leaving), and the inability to commit to leaving on yachts outside the country at the appropriate time to meet safe sailing requirements.
Recovering tourism
A tourism expert in the Red Sea Atef Othman confirmed the recovery of tourism in Marsa Alam hotels and resorts, coinciding with the high rates of inbound tourist flights from Europe.
According to Othman, the airport received 18 Italian flights, 19 German flights, 31 Czech flights, 18 Polish flights, five Dutch flights, three Belgian flights, four Swiss flights, two French flights, and one from each of Luxembourg, Austria, Hungary and Lithuania.
Hurghada International Airport, on October 14, recorded an increase in the number of flights, receiving 83 regular and chartered flights from various European airports carrying about 12,000 European tourists.
The German tourists coming to Hurghada in the Red Sea topped the list of European nationalities.
