Turkey becomes tourist attraction for Egyptians

With breathtaking scenery, convenient hotel prices and quality services, Turkey has been attracting a growing number of tourists from Egypt.

Despite political tension between Cairo and Ankara since the military coup against democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi in Egypt in 2013, holidaymakers from Egypt are increasingly favoring Turkey for their vacations. Around 101,000 Egyptian tourists visited Turkey in 2017, up from 94,000 in 2016, according to official Turkish estimates. The rise comes despite restrictions imposed by Egyptian authorities on people aged 18 to 40 years old who are willing to visit Turkey.

George Bolis, a 47-year-old Egyptian, visited Turkey last year for an "amazing" vacation as he puts it. He visited several tourist and archaeological sites, such as the Bosporus, the Hagia Sophia and royal palaces during his visit. "Turkey has many amazing tourist sites in addition to convenient hotel and flight prices, excellent services and [people's] civilized behavior," he said.

Hiba Halabi, an Egyptian academic, said she fell in love with Istanbul during her visit to the city. "I loved the Bosporus and taking a ferry," she said.