Egypt Economic Growth to Spur Business Travel in North Africa

Egypt’s rising economy and structural development presents a considerable opportunity for the long-term expansion of business tourism in the North Africa region, according to Globalata, a data and analytics company.

According to GlobalData’s report, ‘Tourism Destination Market Insight: North Africa’,  business travel is currently undeveloped in North Africa, representing only 10% of trips to the region in 2021. Further, business visits are not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2023, making this the slowest domestic sector to recover. However, Egypt’s rapid economic development will help spur growth in business travel moving forward.

Akshat Sharma, Travel & Tourism Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Egypt has seen tremendous economic recovery, with GlobalData predicting the country’s GDP to increase to $526 billion by 2025. Given this rapid economic development, business travel will be one of the country’s fastest-growing sectors, expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.2% between 2021 and 2025.”

The construction of a New Administrative Capital (NAC) 45 kilometers east of Cairo and the new Capital Airport, connecting to Cairo and Giza, is expected to further improve prospects in Egypt.

Sharma continues: “Egypt has the potential to boost the average expenditure per visitor in the North African region, as capital cities typically support higher hotel room rates and host premium services such as restaurants and transportation. The NAC will also promote commerce between Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia, therefore, contributing to their economic growth.

Egypt was one of a few of countries that saw economic growth throughout the pandemic. This success may be attributable to its capacity to diversify into various businesses, as opposed to depending on high-spending international visitors. Unfortunately, its tourist sector had its biggest crisis since 2016 throughout 2021. However, the recovery is well underway.