By Maydaa Abo El-Nadar
Egypt was ranked 83rd out of 141 countries worldwide, in the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) for 2015.
In the 2011 index Egypt was ranked 75th out of 139 countries, dropping 10 places to reach 85th out of 140 countries in the 2013 index.
The UAE managed to go up from 30th place in the 2011’s index to 28th in the 2013’s index. In this year’s index it jumped four places to reach 24th place. Throughout the Middle East and North Africa, Egypt was ranked 10th out of 16 countries, while the UAE topped the list.
According to the 2015 report, the approximate number of tourists visiting Egypt is 9 million per year. Despite that Egypt being considered a price-competitive destination, with rich cultural resources and long history, tourism has significantly declined due to the unstable security situation.
The chain of events included foreign citizens suffering in Egypt, from Croatian citizen Tomislav Salopek who was kidnapped and killed by “Islamic State” in Sinai, to the Mexican tourists who were mistakenly targeted and killed by the Egyptian military, and most recently the Russian plane crash, which killed of 221 Russians and three Ukrainians.
Aside from the unstable circumstances, other facts can be considered to recover tourism in Egypt. The 2015 report added that ground infrastructure in Egypt, especially the quality of roads and the efficiency of the transport network, needs to be improved.
For the first time, Spain topped the 2015’s index, jumping from eighth in the 2011 index and fourth in the 2013 index.
Russia came in 45th place despite the Crimea events, although the 2015 report highlighted that much of the data was collected prior to the events there. The report suggested that Russia can easily move forward towards the top of the index due to its high scores on natural (fourth place) and cultural (10th) heritage. However, it stipulates the need to develop air transport infrastructure and to pay more attention to its security and business environment.
