Egypt has welcomed seven million tourists in the first half of this year, putting the country on track for its projected 15 million visitors in 2023.

This week the country’s statistical arm, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, released figures from the 2021-2022 fiscal year, showing outstanding year-on- year growth. Egypt received 11.7 million tourists, up from eight million in the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

While the number of tourists increased by more than 46 percent, revenues spiked 121% to amass 10.7 billion U.S. dollars for the North African state.

Europeans made up more than 62 percent of Egypt’s tourists to lead the 2022 charts, while Arabs came second at 26%.

The outstanding figures reported were supported by an additional 35 percent increase in the number of visitors to reach seven million tourists in the first half of 2023 to project a boom in the industry.

After reaching a record 13 million tourists and earning 13 billion U.S. dollars in 2019, Egypt’s tourism industry was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Egypt envisions attracting some 30 million tourists by 2028. The ambitious strategy intends to attract 20 billion dollars of investments. Authorities are planning to increase the hotel capacity in the country from the current 215,000 rooms to 500,000.