Samar El-Sayed_ World Bank estimates indicated that domestic tourist spending in Egypt reached approximately $1 billion in 2025, noting that Saudi visitors alone accounted for half of the total number of Arab arrivals to Egyptian destinations during that period.
A recent World Bank blog stated that domestic and regional travelers have contributed to sustaining the momentum of the tourism economy in Middle Eastern countries experiencing conflicts or high levels of uncertainty.
It added that the tourism sector contributes significantly to driving growth and job creation across the region, yet its impacts remain below its potential.
It continued that the Middle East is rich in potential matched by few tourist destinations worldwide, boasting historical and religious cities, heritage sites, coasts, deserts, and mountains.
However, a large part of this wealth remains underutilized, concentrated in a limited number of locations, and generating less local economic value than it could achieve.
The Bank believes that the benefits of tourism do not reach a sufficient number of people, noting that the sector generates approximately 12 million jobs across the Middle East and North Africa region, representing one of the few sectors capable of creating employment opportunities for various skill levels.
It explained that each direct job in the tourism sector supports approximately two additional jobs in food production, transportation, retail, cultural and creative industries, and other local services.
For women, youth, and local communities in less-developed regions, tourism can represent one of the most accessible pathways to entering the formal labor market, according to the Bank's blog.
The blog pointed out that maximizing the potential of the tourism sector requires adopting a different mindset regarding tourist destinations; the value of the sector lies in the economic activity it generates across local value chains. It added that when tourist destinations are planned and managed as integrated economic systems, they create livelihoods that extend beyond the boundaries of the sector itself.
It added that infrastructure, skills, local supply chains, access to financing and digital services, and destination management must work in integration and coordination with one another.
It stated that successful destinations are those that build strong links between the tourism sector and the broader local economy.
It continued: For the tourism sector to achieve its promising potential, greater opportunities must be provided for more individuals and businesses to participate in its growth. Many businesses that generate the greatest local impact fall under the category of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which contribute to providing jobs for local communities and retaining tourist spending within them.
Nevertheless, the report suggests that small tourism entrepreneurs may face significant obstacles in securing land or property ownership rights, meeting multiple licensing requirements, or obtaining approvals from various government entities, in addition to difficulties in accessing finance.
It adds that these challenges slow the pace of investment, limit growth, and deprive many small enterprises of the employment opportunities they could have provided had it not been for these obstacles.
It emphasized that successful tourist destinations around the world share one key lesson: neither the public sector nor the private sector alone can achieve the desired transformation.
It explained that governments work on developing infrastructure, establishing policy frameworks, and nurturing cultural and natural assets that create the necessary conditions for the tourism sector to grow, while private sector investors bring capital, innovation, and technical expertise.
The blog stated that the greatest opportunities arise when public and private sector efforts combine to develop tourist destinations, enhance value chains, and unlock investment opportunities that neither could achieve alone.
