New Platform Will Make it Easy for Yacht Tourism to Set Sail for Egypt

With how the nation is nestled between two seas and three continents, Egypt has much of what it needs to be an ideal destination for yacht tourism. To encourage yachting enthusiasts into the country, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has launched an online platform - called ‘Single-Window for Yacht Tourism’ - that will streamline and facilitate all procedures for the entry and exit of yachts to Egyptian shores, in coordination with the Ministry of Transport’s Maritime Transport Sector.

Yacht operators will be able to submit their data and documents to apply for entry, pay fixed fees, access terminals and tourist ports and receive their invoices within three days of application. They will be able to choose freely from a list of public and commercial ports and private marinas for their moorings.  To facilitate that process, the new platform will be linked to the Passports, Emigration and Nationality Department at the interior ministry and the Suez Canal Authority (SCA).

The two ministries will also launch a marketing campaign to advertise tourist ports and marinas along the Egyptian coastlines. Another collaboration will ensue with the Ministry of Finance to amend the customs law and facilitate the issuance of permits of storage for foreign yachts.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities released a decree to allow any foreign yacht to depart from any tourist port or marina regardless of their entry point, and issued a unified code for the establishment and operation of moorings and ports nationwide.