Effective as of Wednesday, March 1, 2017, a decision from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that visa fees for visitors to Egypt from various land ports, seaports and airports will increase from $25.00 to $60.00 — which is an increase of 140 percent.
Additionally, visitors seeking a multiple entry visa will be required to pay $70.00 — which is an increase of 100 percent from the current cost of $35.00.
Visa Fees For Visitors to Egypt Increase by 140 Percent
“The immigration authorities, port authorities and the Tourism Companies Chamber have been notified of the decision”, according to this article written by Al-Masry Al-Youm of Egypt Independent. “Fees imposed on violators of visa regulations have been also raised according to the decision.”
Authorities in Egypt announced in March of 2015 that they were contemplating to require visas in advance as of Friday, May 15, 2015 for all foreigners traveling to Egypt for tourism will require visas in advance; but fortunately, the decision was reversed in April of 2015 until an electronic visa system was in place.
Fortunately for me, the visa upon arrival — which cost me $25.00 — was still in effect, as I did not purchase a visa in advance. There was no line to obtain one; so accomplishing that task was fairly easy…
…as was returning to the lines to pass through customs, as many of the throngs of people had already passed through the customs hall, which was at that point thankfully relatively empty.
Summary
According to the aforementioned article, “Officials of the Tourism Companies Chamber stressed in a statement that the timing of the decision is inappropriate and would harm the tourism inflow to Egypt in light of the travel warnings in place in several foreign countries and the already high entry fees for archaeological sites in Egypt.”
I completely agree with that statement — as well as this one: “Other countries around the world cancel visas in order to attract tourists. Raising entry visa fees would decrease the inflow of tourists” — even though the value of a United States dollar can potentially go a long way in Egypt.
Egypt — a country which currently desperately needs tourist dollars — considered tightening restrictions last year on obtaining a visa prior to travel as opposed to upon arrival to the country; but has since abandoned those efforts with no word on renewing them.
I have long asserted that if a country wants to increase tourism, it needs to relax its reciprocity fees or visa requirements. Two examples of countries which did just that are Chile and Argentina — and effective as of Sunday, February 12, 2017, Belarus is the latest country to relax both visa fees and requirements in what seems to be an effort to increase tourism.
Let visitors and tourists spend that money on local businesses within a country instead. After all, the government will still collect taxes through the businesses.
This is a bad move for Egypt, in my opinion; and especially with only one week or so of advanced notice — but if you are still interested in visiting Egypt despite the increase in visa fees, here is a series of articles pertaining to my experiences in that country — and I still have more articles which I need to write and post in the future:
- 6 Reasons Why You Should Visit Egypt Now
- Great Sphinx of Giza in Egypt: A Photographic Essay
- Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut in Egypt: Part One of A Photographic Essay
- Trapped in the Toilet of My Hotel Room in Egypt
- Arguably the Best Service I Ever Received From a Hotel
- As I am Lounging on a Hammock Along the Shore of the Nile River…
- I Became Guest of the Day at This Hotel Simply Because I Drove a Car
- 8 Tips on How to Drive in Cairo and Other Parts of Egypt
- I Drove on One of the 10 Roads You Would Never Want to Drive On and Did Not Even Realize It
- Renting a Car in Egypt: My Experience
- 9 Tips on How to Deal With Aggressive Touts When Visiting Egypt
- The Chaos Known as Cairo International Airport
- 11 Travel Photographs You Should Stop Taking Right Now?
- Should Attractions in the United States Charge Different Fees for Non-Residents?
- Russian Airplane Crash: Should You Travel to Egypt? Is it Safe?
All photographs ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
