Egypt’s Foreign Ministry has raised entry fees to Egypt from various land, sea, and air ports from US$25 to $60 beginning March 1st
The new fee has been transmitted to the immigration authorities, port authorities and the Tourism Companies Chamber of the north African country.
According to local media reports, the Visa fee raise comes amidst the rejection by the tourism sector companies and officials.
Egypt last pushed up the fee for its visa in April 2014, when it was increased from $15 to $25. Fees imposed on violators of visa regulations have been also raised according to the decision.
A statement by the Officials of the Tourism Companies Chamber has said that the fee will affect negatively the tourism inflow to Egypt has termed the timing of the decision as inappropriate, due to the travel warnings in place in several foreign countries against Egypt and the already high entry fees for archaeological sites in Egypt. Therefore affecting the country’s efforts to revive tourism, which is a main contributor to the economy and a key source of foreign currency.
“The country’s revenues from tourism dropped to $3.4 billion in 2016, a 44.3 percent drop from the previous year, the Central Bank of Egypt said in January. The figure is a far cry from the $11 billion in revenues generated by the sector in 2010, when 14.7 million tourists visited the country.” Said a report by Ahram
