Egypt’s Red Sea gems, Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh, have been ranked among the top 15 trending global travel destinations for summer 2025, according to the newly released Travel Trends 2025 report by the Mastercard Economics Institute (MEI).
The report underscores Egypt’s strengthening position in global tourism, as wellness, nature, and food emerge as key travel drivers across the Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EEMEA) region.
The report, based on aggregated and anonymized transaction data and third-party sources, highlights how travelers are increasingly drawn to purpose-driven experiences such as nature retreats and culinary tourism—trends that align well with Egypt’s diverse tourism offerings.
“Tourism remains an important driver for growth and diversification in the EEMEA region,” said Khatija Haque, Chief Economist for EEMEA at Mastercard Economics Institute. “The tourism landscape is evolving, with emerging destinations attracting investment and powering spending.”
Key regional insights with implications for Egypt include:
• Nature and wellness: African destinations like Namibia, South Africa, and Botswana are leading in wellness travel and national park spending. Egypt’s eco-tourism and Red Sea resorts stand to benefit from the growing global appetite for nature-based getaways.
• Food tourism: Istanbul tops MEI’s “globalized foodie cities” list, joined by Doha, Dubai, and Marrakech. Egypt’s own rising culinary scene in Cairo and Alexandria may be well-positioned to follow this trend.
• Intra-regional travel: With reforms easing travel across Gulf states and rising leisure infrastructure investment, countries like Saudi Arabia are seeing a surge in regional tourism—a pattern Egypt could leverage to attract more Gulf travelers.
• Hybrid business travel: Business travelers remain inclined toward intra-regional trips. MEI notes that UK businesses are increasingly directing their travel budgets to the EEMEA region—an opportunity for Egypt’s business tourism sector.
Despite global headwinds, the MEI report shows travelers remain driven by meaningful experiences—fueling demand for destinations like Egypt that offer cultural richness, natural beauty, and expanding wellness tourism infrastructure.
