Egypt led the Middle East with the highest growth in international tourist arrivals in 2025, as the country continues to invest in attracting more visitors, research by UN Tourism has found.
The Arab world's third-biggest economy recorded a 20 per cent increase in visitors last year, followed by Jordan with 12 per cent and Qatar with 4 per cent, the UN agency's World Tourism Barometer said.
Buoyed by the Grand Egyptian Museum, Red Sea resorts and cultural heritage sites, Egypt earned "solid" revenue from tourism in 2025, up 17 per cent on the previous year.
Overall, the Middle East beat other regions in the world, with the highest growth in number of inbound foreign visitors last year compared to 2019, underscoring a strong recovery from the Covid pandemic.
The number of international tourist arrivals in the Middle East last year jumped 39 per cent above pre-pandemic levels to nearly 100 million, from 71.6 million in 2019, the UN Tourism report said.
The region's year-on-year gains were modest, with a 3 per cent increase in tourist arrivals to reach 96.6 million.
Overall, international tourism is expected to continue growing, as "global economic conditions remain favourable, tourism service inflation continues to decline and geopolitical conflicts do not escalate", UN Tourism said.
Egypt is leading the region's growth as the government focuses on tourism investment, infrastructure development, diversifying source markets and expanding into adventure travel and conference events.
The nation welcomed nearly 19 million tourists in 2025, up 21 per cent on 2024, its Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said. This was driven by strong air connections, especially a 32 per cent growth in charter flights, and cultural tourism enhancement such as the opening of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation and the Grand Egyptian Museum to showcase the country's collection of historical artefacts.
The Arab world's most populous country, with more than 118 million inhabitants, has continued to attract a growing number of tourists despite geopolitical challenges in the region.
Tourism, which makes up about 12 per cent of the country's gross domestic product, is a major driver of hard currency and jobs in Egypt, which has set a target of attracting 30 million tourists by 2030.
Overall, the Middle East's growing magnetism as a tourist destination is driven by strategic investments, supportive policies and its role as a global connecting hub.
Global outlook in 2026
The Middle East has outpaced global growth in international tourism.
The number of overnight visitors from abroad grew 4 per cent in 2025 to reach 1.52 billion, as most destinations worldwide posted solid results, the UN Tourism said in its report.
Last year was a new record for international tourist arrivals in the post-pandemic era, the report said. This was driven by strong demand, growth in travellers from large source markets and the ongoing recovery of destinations in Asia and the Pacific, it said. Increased air connectivity and easier visa procedures also supported international travel in 2025.
"Demand for travel remained high throughout 2025, despite high inflation in tourism services and uncertainty from geopolitical tensions," said Shaikha Al Nowais, UN Tourism secretary general and an Emirati citizen.
"We expect this positive trend to continue into 2026 as the global economy is expected to remain steady and destinations still lagging behind pre-pandemic levels fully recover."
Tourism-reliant economies around the world benefitted from strong arrivals, as preliminary estimates indicated $1.9 trillion in international tourism receipts worldwide, a 5 per cent increase from 2024.
Total export revenue from tourism, which includes receipts and passenger transport, are estimated at $2.2 trillion in 2025 based on available data, the UN body said.
Tourism represents 6 per cent of the world’s total exports of goods and services.
Looking ahead, international tourism is expected to grow 3 per cent to 4 per cent in 2026, however, this hinges on several factors including the Asia and Pacific regions continuing their recovery, global economic conditions remaining favourable and geopolitical hostilities easing, UN Tourism said.
"Uncertainty from current geopolitical tensions and conflicts pose an increasing risk for tourism in 2026," it said.
