Egypt Is Open For Tourism: South Africans to get Visa On Arrival in Egypt
Cairo on the Nile River (image: pixabay)
7 April 2022
In a step aiming at easing travel of South Africans to Egypt and strengthening ties between the two, Egypt announced this week that South Africans traveling to Egypt for tourism no longer have to acquire a prior visa from the Egyptian Embassies, and can now get their visa upon arrival at Cairo International Airport. This move is aimed at boosting the number of South African tourists going to the land of the pharaohs, a destination that has long been on the bucket list of many South Africans given Egypt’s rich cultural heritage and attractively priced seaside resorts.
Although Egyptians traveling for tourism to South Africa still need to apply and get a visa to be able to enter the country, Egypt’s Ambassador to South Africa H.E. Ahmed El Fadly said that he hopes that the this move will “be reciprocated by the South African side as part of the joint efforts by both countries to enhance people to people relations between Africa’s two largest economies” and might one day lead to the lifting of all visa requirements between the two.
He added that Egypt has much to offer South African tourists, not least its vast cultural and historical heritage that is reflected in the many pharaonic monuments scattered all over the country, which he described as “one of the most important contributions by the people of Africa to world heritage”.
Ambassador El Fadly said that this decision by Egypt, which does not for now apply to any other African country but South Africa, means that travel to Egypt has never been easier for South Africans especially given the resumption of Egypt Air’s regular direct flights from Cairo to Johannesburg. He added that Egypt expects the number of travelers from South Africa to increase significantly in the coming period, and for Egypt to become one of the main tourist destinations for South Africans, given its competitive prices and vast array of touristic options from its cultural heritage, to seaside resorts on the Red Sea, and its religious significance to many faiths.
The Embassy further clarifies that visas upon arrival will be valid for a period of 30 days, and that this this procedure puts South African travelers on par with visitors that come to Egypt from the European Union, Japan, the United States and Canada.