The importance of tourism contributions in Egyptian economy Ahmed K Elnagar Assistant Professor at the Department of Administrative and Financial Sciences and Techniques, Community College, Taibah University, Saudi Arabia; Suez Canal University, Egypt ahmed_karam@tourism.suez.edu.eg Abdelkader Derbali Assistant Professor at the Department of Administrative and Financial Sciences and Techniques, Community College, Taibah University, Saudi Arabia. Department of Management Sciences, Higher Institute of Informatics and Management of Kairouan, Kairouan University, Tunisia derbaliabdelkader@outlook.fr DOI: https://doi.org/10.31559/IJHTS2020.1.1.5 Abstract: Tourism in Egypt is one of the most important sources of national income, with the annual dollar revenues it provides, and the foreign currency returns that enabled it to participate significantly in the gross domestic product, and to combat unemployment by employing a wide segment of the workforce in Egypt. Egypt is one of the most prominent tourist countries in the world, with its number of tourists arriving in the world, and it is distinguished by the abundance of tourist attractions of all kinds, the spread of temples, museums, monuments, historical and artistic buildings and vast gardens on its land, and its possession of strong infrastructure based on serving the tourism sector, including Hotel rooms, villages, tourist resorts, tourism companies and airline offices. In this paper, we present an overview of tourism in Egypt and its impact on the Egyptian economy based on a data published by the World Tourism Organization (2019) and by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, 2017. We indicate the types of tourism in Egypt. We present the factors which have an impact on tourism in Egypt. Finally, we present the contribution of tourism in Egyptian economy. From our analysis, it has been shown that tourism is one of the most important fields in Egypt and indeed in all countries around the world, but tourism in Egypt is characterized by many factors, as Egypt abounds in many recreational and tourist places, and there is also religious tourism because Egypt has many religious places. Key words: Tourism; economic growth; Egypt; Contributions 1. Introduction The phenomenon of tourism in Egypt developed during the ancient times, and the ancient Egyptians practiced many recreational activities, and they related to sport tourism in its various forms, intellectuals and clerics took an interest in cultural tourism, and Nile tourism spread throughout the country, and a large number of foreign regions came to Egypt with the aim of medical tourism, as well The movement of travel and travel was active between the different regions of Egypt, and the archaeological plates recorded international relations between Egypt on the one hand and ancient Syria on the other hand, during which they exchanged visits that had all the characteristics of tourism with their modern meaning (Shaalan, 2005; Ragab, 2014; Haiying, 2019; Brida et al., 2020). During the Middle Ages, Egypt witnessed the most prosperous periods of tourism as a result of the activity of travel and the expansion of the circle of Arab trips after the emergence and spread of Islam and the extension of the Islamic state between the Indian subcontinent, North Africa and southern Europe. Cairo was one of the most important cultural and cultural centers in the Islamic state and one of the wealthiest, like several Islamic capitals. Others, and its palaces, gardens and libraries were among the attractions that attracted large numbers of tourists. Economic boom and security and desire for knowledge contributed to the popularity of tourism and the activity of trips and their multiplicity in Egypt during that period. Egypt's tourist significance has increased since the end of the eighteenth century and during the nineteenth century, due to several factors, including the French campaign that restored communication between the Egyptian and his ancient civilization through the scholars accompanying the campaign who studied the Egyptian civilization and revealed many valuable monuments, and presented Egypt www.refaad.com International Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Studies (IJHTS) Journal Homepage: https://www.refaad.com/views/IJHTS/home.aspx