Egypt ranks third in Africa in the WEF's 2026 travel and tourism index

The World Economic Forum's 2026 Travel & Tourism Development Index ranks Egypt 63rd of 110 countries and third in Africa, after Mauritius and South Africa. The report names service quality, hotel capacity and air links as the areas where visitors should see improvements.

Source: Egypt Independent

El Gouna Film Festival opens its ninth edition, honouring Mona Zaki

The Red Sea festival opened on 15 October and runs until 23 October, with 77 films under the theme 'Cinema for Humanity: Archiving Narratives'. Mona Zaki received the Creative Achievement Award. Masterclasses with Zaki and Yousry Nasrallah make this a good week to be in El Gouna.

Source: Egyptian Streets

Palme d'Or winner Fjord gets its MENA premiere at El Gouna Film Festival

Andrew Mohsen's first programme as artistic director has 49 features and 19 shorts. Out of competition it includes Cristian Mungiu's Fjord and Ryusuke Hamaguchi's All of a Sudden. Joanna Hogg leads the jury, and Egypt's Safe Exit is in the main competition.

Source: Deadline

Egypt welcomed 14.4 million visitors in the first nine months of 2026

The Egyptian Tourism Authority shared the figures after the WTTC summit: arrivals are up 4% on last year, about 35,000 hotel rooms are in the pipeline, and airport expansions are planned at Cairo, El Alamein and Sphinx. Expect a busy winter at the major sites.

Source: eTurboNews

Latin kitchen Chicha is building a second Cairo branch in New Cairo

The Mexican, Peruvian and Nikkei restaurant from O West, known for its tacos, lamb barbacoa and churros, is fitting out a new space at 5A in New Cairo. There is no opening date yet, but east Cairo diners will soon be much closer to it.

Source: Scene Eats

Bascota opens a farm-to-table bakery at District 5 in New Cairo

Amir Fayo's homegrown bakery has a new District 5 branch built around produce from Egyptian farms. It serves bread, pastries, sandwiches and coffee every day from 8:30am to midnight, which makes it a handy all-day stop in east Cairo.

Source: Scene Eats

Cairo Food Week's fourth edition brings Manu Buffara and Bo Bech to Cairo kitchens

The ten-day festival put visiting chefs in local kitchens: Brazil's Manu Buffara at Palm Hills One and Denmark's Bo Bech at Mamina's. It also held a dinner at the Grand Egyptian Museum and a finale with Athens bar The Bar in Front of the Bar.

Source: Scene Eats

Egyptian Clothing Bank's upcycling show turns donated garments into design

The fourth From Waste to Good Taste exhibition, at The Factory in Downtown Cairo, turned donated clothes into installations. It also ran alteration workshops and sold upcycled pieces from the social enterprise Almah, a sign of Cairo's growing circular-fashion scene.

Source: Egyptian Streets

Hurghada's South Magawish zone gets land for 856 new hotel rooms and two water parks

Egypt's Tourism Development Authority has allocated more than 1 million square metres south of Hurghada for hotels, tourism services and entertainment. The plans include a water park run by an international operator, which points to more resort choice on the Red Sea in coming seasons.

Source: Daily News Egypt

Art D'Égypte names a women-led artist line-up for Forever Is Now 06 at the pyramids

Eight artists, five of them women, will show at Giza from 4 to 28 November, among them Bernar Venet, Charlotte Colbert and Egypt's Reham Abo Elazm. A new show, Crafts Re-Imagined, pairs artists with master craftsmen at Bait Al Suheimy from 23 October to 8 November.

Source: Flair Magazine

First 16 floor pieces of Khufu's second solar boat installed at the Grand Egyptian Museum

An Egyptian-Japanese team has restored and fitted 16 wooden floor pieces of the pharaoh's second boat. Work on the rest continues inside the Khufu Boats Museum, where visitors can watch conservators assemble the vessel.

Source: Daily News Egypt

The Grand Egyptian Museum nears four million visitors

About 4 million people visited between the museum's November 2025 opening and the end of August 2026, with numbers rising again for the new season.

Source: Egypt Today

IGY Marinas to run IL Monte Galala marina on the Red Sea near Ain Sokhna

Tatweer Misr has appointed IGY Marinas as long-term operator of the marina at its IL Monte Galala development, in a deal signed at the Monaco Yacht Show. It gives yachts cruising Egypt's Red Sea an internationally managed berth within easy reach of Cairo.

Source: Egyptian Streets

Yehia El-Fakharany's King Lear passes 200 shows at Cairo's National Theatre

Shady Sorour's production stars El-Fakharany in a role he first played in 2001. It runs Thursday to Sunday at 9pm in Attaba. Tickets cost EGP 60–110 and are sold only at the box office from 4pm, a rare chance to see a stage legend.

Source: Egyptian Streets

Amr Diab earns a Guinness World Record for 69 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard Arabia

Diab's second Guinness title recognises 69 weeks at the top of the Billboard Arabia Artist 100, out of 145 weeks on the chart in total. It shows how firmly he still leads regional playlists ahead of his December Cairo show.

Source: Egypt Independent

Egypt's visitor numbers rose while the region's fell

UN Tourism counted 3% more arrivals to Egypt in the first half of 2026 while the Middle East fell 22%. The tourism ministry is aiming for about 20 million visitors this year.

Source: Ahram Online

EgyptAir plans a Sydney–Cairo route via Singapore from 2027

The flag carrier plans to link Sydney and Cairo via Singapore Changi, probably with Airbus A350-900s, subject to regulatory approval. It would give Australian travellers a one-stop route to Egypt.

Source: Egyptian Streets

Spanish-Egyptian team uncovers a Fifth Dynasty judge's tomb at Saqqara

The mastaba of the judge Yunmin and his father Ity dates to the reign of King Djedkare Isesi. Many of its reliefs of farming and offering processions keep their original colours. Conservation is under way at a site Auguste Mariette noted in the 19th century but never fully excavated.

Source: Daily News Egypt

Cairo Airport plans a 40-million-passenger Terminal 4

The new terminal would take the airport's capacity to about 70 million passengers a year.

Source: Egyptian Streets

Three tombs and five mummies found at Sheikh Subi in the Bahariya Oasis

An Egyptian mission at Sheikh Subi, near the Bawiti temple built for Amasis II, found a Late Period family tomb holding five mummies. It also found two Roman-era burials, offering tables and terracotta figurines. It's one more reason to make the long drive out to the Western Desert oasis.

Source: Gulf News

Sherine Abdel Wahab returns to the stage with a sold-out Porto Golf concert

The singer headlined Porto Golf El Alamein on 7 August as part of its summer festival. Every ticket category sold out within hours, so organisers released more. It was one of the biggest nights of the Sahel season and a long-awaited comeback for her fans.

Source: Egypt Independent

Nobu, Odoriko and Sachi by The Sea lead the North Coast's 2026 restaurant wave

The 2026 Sahel season brought new and returning names: Nobu at Ogami in Ras El Hekma, Odoriko and Hara Hachi Bu at Playa, and Sachi by The Sea in Marassi and Almaza Bay. Fou by Farah opened inside Azza Fahmy's Diplo boutique. Worth keeping as a shortlist to book ahead next summer.

Source: Enterprise

Cairo Airport pilots a QR-code visa on arrival to replace the paper sticker

From 1 August, travellers arriving at any Cairo International terminal can get a QR-code visa through an online portal, an app or kiosks in the arrival halls. They can do it before departure, during the flight or after landing. It costs US$36, lasts 48 hours from issue, and paper visas stay available during the pilot.

Source: Egyptian Tourism Authority (PR Newswire)

New Cairo's Kempinski becomes Kempinski Palace Cairo

The 245-room hotel takes a new name and begins a full renovation, with new restaurants and bars, in the second half of 2026.

Source: Hospitality Net

Egyptian short film 'Khufu', set in the shadow of the pyramids, premieres at Locarno

Mahmoud Assi's short follows a 14-year-old in Nazlet El-Semman whose family depends on an ailing camel. It was selected for the Pardi di Domani competition at Locarno (5–15 August) and earlier won Egypt's first Eish Short Film Competition. It brings rare festival attention to life beside the Giza plateau.

Source: Egyptian Streets

Mariolino Beach House opens a boutique hotel at Ramla on the North Coast

The brand behind houses in Batroun and Bodrum has opened about 200 m from the sea at Marakez's Ramla in Ras El Hekma. It has 30 rooms, including six suites, a 160-seat restaurant with an open kitchen and communal tables, and no reception desk. It's a new boutique option next to Sahel's big resorts.

Source: Scene Traveller

Leiden team uncovers the 3,000-year-old tomb of Paser on Luxor's West Bank

Found in the Sheikh Abd el-Qurna necropolis, the Ramesside-era tomb has an open courtyard and a rock-cut chapel shaped like an inverted T. Its reliefs show Paser worshipping the gods and seated with his wife. It adds to the Tombs of the Nobles area, already one of the best stops on the West Bank.

Source: AFP

The Grand Egyptian Museum caps daily visits at 15,000

After more than 3 million visitors in seven months, the museum now limits daily entry to protect the experience. Book timed tickets ahead.

Source: Ahram Online

Nobu opens in New Cairo, its first restaurant in the capital

SODIC unveiled Nobu New Cairo at Eastown District on 24 June with a preview attended by chef Nobu Matsuhisa, and a public opening was to follow. The partnership also covers Ogami in Ras El Hekma, where Nobu began its second summer season in July.

Source: Egyptian Streets

Alexandria's cruise season picks up with calls from Aroya and Regent Seven Seas

Early June brought an overnight call by Regent Seven Seas Grandeur and Aroya's first summer visit, with about 275 Egyptians boarding for a week-long cruise to Turkey. Aroya is due ten times in 2026, and MSC, Norwegian, TUI and P&O ships are also expected. That's good news for Alexandria's hotels and sights.

Source: Cruise Industry News

Swissôtel Resort El Quseir opens on a quiet stretch of the Red Sea

Accor's 250-room resort has a 520 m private beach, three pools, a dive centre and an Ayurvedic spa. It has six restaurants and bars, from local cooking at Mosaic to Mediterranean dishes at Olivos. A phased renovation goes on while it stays open. It's a calmer base than Hurghada for reef trips.

Source: International Business Magazine

flynas launches direct Riyadh–Alexandria flights from 6 July

The Saudi low-cost airline is flying three times a week between Riyadh and Alexandria International Airport (formerly Borg El Arab). It opens another gateway to Alexandria and the North Coast for Gulf visitors in summer.

Source: AACO

Near-complete funerary cache found in the tomb of Panehsi in Matariya, ancient Heliopolis

Excavators in Matariya found what the ministry calls the area's first near-complete funerary assemblage. It includes a copper mirror, alabaster and obsidian kohl pots, faience amulets, scarabs and five pairs of earrings believed to be gold. It's a reminder of the ancient city under modern Cairo.

Source: Archaeology Wiki

Jason Statham and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley tour the Giza Pyramids and the GEM

The couple shared photos from the pyramids and the Grand Egyptian Museum, and Huntington-Whiteley called the trip a lifelong dream. It's more A-list attention for a Cairo itinerary that pairs the plateau with the new museum next door.

Source: AAP

Downtown Cairo's 'Art Street' puts free music and performance on the street every weekend

Launched around the Bourse triangle and El-Sherifein Street, the initiative from the Academy of Arts and Cairo Governorate puts on free shows every Thursday to Saturday. Expect live music, puppetry, tanoura dancing, portrait artists and crafts. It's an easy evening add-on to a downtown walk.

Source: Cairo Governorate

Cairo's East Nile Monorail opens to passengers

Public service began on 6 May on 16 stations from El-Moshir Tantawi in Nasr City to Justice City in the New Administrative Capital. Trains run daily from 6am to 6pm. It's a new way to reach the capital's cultural district and its landmark mosques.

Source: Egyptian Streets

Armen Agop's 'Silence Pavilion' represents Egypt at the 2026 Venice Biennale

Cairo-born artist Armen Agop is both artist and curator of Egypt's Giardini pavilion, a show built around slowness, gesture and listening. It runs from 9 May to 22 November 2026, so look for it if Venice is on your travel list this year.

Source: The National

Restoration at Karnak reveals a stele showing Roman emperor Tiberius as a pharaoh

Work on a gate north of Luxor's Karnak complex uncovered a roughly 2,000-year-old sandstone stele showing Tiberius with Amun, Mut and Khonsu and recording repairs to a temple wall. Karnak's story runs well into the Roman era.

Source: Archaeology Magazine

EgyptAir announces first direct Cairo flights to Los Angeles and Chicago

Each route will run three times a week on Airbus A350-900s, with Los Angeles from May 2026 and Chicago from June. It is EgyptAir's first West Coast link and makes Cairo and the Pyramids easier to reach for American travellers.

Source: Egyptian Streets

Mövenpick El Gouna to become Sofitel El Gouna Resort under new Accor deal

Accor and Orascom Development signed to reposition the 420-room resort, set on a peninsula between sea and lagoon, under the Sofitel brand, with phased renovation from 2027. It gives El Gouna, which draws about a million visitors a year, a new luxury address.

Source: Arab Finance

AUC Tahrir CultureFest returns downtown with an AI-themed 'Future C-AI-RO' edition

The festival's third edition ran 2–4 April 2026 at AUC's Tahrir Square campus. It mixed TEDx talks, music, theatre, exhibitions, a book fair, a makers' bazaar and downtown walks, a compact way to sample Cairo's creative scene.

Source: Egyptian Streets

Some 13,000 inscribed pottery shards unearthed at Athribis near Sohag

The new finds bring the total recovered at Athribis to more than 43,000 ostraca, spanning over 1,000 years from Ptolemaic tax receipts in Demotic to Arabic jar labels. Together they give a rare, close-up view of daily temple life in Upper Egypt.

Source: Archaeology Magazine

'Beyond Van Gogh' immersive exhibition heads to District 5 in New Cairo

Marakez announced the projection-mapped show, featuring more than 300 Van Gogh works, for April to June 2026. It adds an optional VR experience and a later 'Beyond Monet' add-on, making it an easy family art outing on Cairo's east side.

Source: Egyptian Streets

Old Kingdom rock-cut tombs found at Aswan's Qubbet el-Hawa

The tombs, reused in later eras, held about 160 pottery vessels with hieratic inscriptions, plus bronze mirrors, alabaster kohl pots and Middle Kingdom amulets. Qubbet el-Hawa, on the west bank facing Aswan, is already a favourite sunset climb.

Source: Archaeology Magazine

Mandarin Oriental to take over Aswan's Old Cataract and Luxor's Winter Palace

With TMG, the group will run both historic ex-Sofitel hotels. Old Cataract stays open from May 2026 during renovation, while Winter Palace closes for restoration; both relaunch in July 2027, alongside the brand's first Nile cruise.

Source: Hospitality Net

Cairo street-food legend El-Prince reopens in Sheikh Zayed

The Imbaba institution, known since 1980 for liver, grills, molokhia and late-night queues, closed its street-side spot in 2022. It is back in a larger indoor branch in Sheikh Zayed City, still serving generous plates of classic Cairo comfort food.

Source: Egyptian Streets

Egyptian thriller 'Khoroog Amen' premieres in the Berlinale's Panorama section

Mohamed Hammad's psychological drama about a young Cairo security guard living with trauma premiered on 12 February 2026 at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival. Watch for it when it reaches Egyptian screens and regional festivals.

Source: Egyptian Streets

Aswan named D-8 Tourism City of the Year for a second year running

D-8 member states voted Aswan their 2026 Tourism City of the Year on 2 February, ahead of cities from Azerbaijan, Iran and Pakistan. Expect more promotion of its Nile, Nubian and pharaonic heritage to visitors this year.

Source: Egyptian Streets

In the Selection

Khufu's, at the foot of the pyramids, is the best restaurant in the Middle East & North Africa

Chef Mostafa Seif's New Egyptian kitchen took first place at MENA's 50 Best Restaurants 2026 in Abu Dhabi, the first Egyptian restaurant to top the list. Step inside Khufu's and the bistro upstairs in 3D.

Source: MENA's 50 Best RestaurantsKhufu's →

Cairo International Book Fair breaks its attendance record

The 57th edition, held 21 January to 3 February, drew close to six million visits, with 1,457 publishers from 83 countries. Romania was guest of honour and Naguib Mahfouz the featured personality, making it again Egypt's biggest cultural crowd-puller.

Source: Arab News

Fifth-century monastery with a domed church uncovered in Sohag

Excavators at Al-Qarya bi-Al-Duweir found foundations of a Byzantine-era monastic complex: a main church with a central dome, choir and apse, plastered floors and water basins. It adds to Sohag's rich but little-visited Coptic heritage.

Source: Archaeology Magazine

Egypt welcomed a record 19 million tourists in 2025

The tourism ministry said arrivals rose 21% on 2024, led by Cairo, Hurghada, Sharm El-Sheikh and Marsa Alam airports, while charter traffic to New Alamein jumped 450%. Expect busier sites in 2026, so book key visits early.

Source: Business Today Egypt