The Economic Relations Between Israel and Egypt: Tourism, 1979-1984

The economic relations that have come into being between Egypt and Israel in the years since the signing of the peace agreement in March 1979 are varied. Foremost among them are trade in oil, trade in agricultural products, and cooperation in the sphere of agrotechnology, as well as tourism between the two countries. Most of the passenger traffic between Israel and Egypt in both directions is by land. The geographical proximity and the low cost make this route preferable to most visitors. In Egyptian tourism records, Israel is classified with Western countries. It is thus of interest to examine the relative importance of Israeli tourism in overall Western tourism to Egypt. On the eve of the tourism agreements and the lifting of travel restrictions between Israel and Egypt, expectations and estimates in Israel on the numbers of Egyptian tourists who would visit Israel each year were high. In 1980 the population of Egypt reached 42 million.