Egypt Emerges as the Winner in the Middle East’s Travel Shake-Up
Photo Credit: Grand Egyptian Museum Grand Egyptian Museum
Skift Take
The Iran war hasn’t destroyed Middle East travel demand — it has reshuffled it. Egypt is picking up what the Gulf is losing.
Egypt is emerging as the chief beneficiary of a redistribution of travel demand within the Middle East, as the Iran war pushes travelers away from Gulf destinations and toward markets perceived as insulated from the conflict.
Tourist arrivals in the Middle East fell 14% in the first quarter of 2026, while Egypt posted a 16% increase, according to a UN Tourism report published June 2.
Egyptian government figures released last week show arrivals rose 7% to 6.1 million in the first four months of the year, up from 5.7 million in the same period of 2025. The country is targeting 30 million tourists annually by 2030, according to the State Information Service, Egypt’s official media agency.
“Some countries benefit when others do not,” said Haitham Mattar, managing director for India, Middle East and Africa at
