The agreement was signed by WTM London event director Chris Carter-Chapman, chief executive of the Egyptian Tourism Authority Ahmed Youseff and Egypt's minister of tourism and antiquities Sherif Fathi at the launch of Ramses and the Pharoah's Gold: The Exhibition at London's Battersea Power Station last week.

Egypt has been a long-term WTM London exhibitor and partner, with a presence at every event since the first WTM London in 1980.

In recent years, it has almost doubled the size of its stand, going up by 20% between 2023 and 2024 and by a further 50% at least year's event, at which it was joined by around 90 co-exhibitors.

Egypt is in talks to establish an even larger presence at WTM London this year, which will be bolstered by other suppliers exhibiting independently of the tourism authority such as airlines, hotel chains, resorts and destination management companies.

The country welcomed nearly 19 million international visitors last year, a 21% year-on-year increase, and is served by flights from nearly 200 cities around the world.

Its ambition is to achieve 30 million tourist arrivals by 2031, with last year's WTM Global Travel Report predicting a 27% increase in inbound tourism spend in Egypt between now and the end of the decade.

“WTM London has been instrumental in helping Egypt to become one of the world’s most popular outbound leisure destinations," said Youseff.

"We intend to take full advantage of our Premier Partner status to promote the world’s oldest tourism destination to an even wider range of source markets and traveller types."

Fathi said: “Our Premier Partnership with WTM London reflects Egypt’s strategic vision to position itself as a leading global tourism destination.

"Building on the strong growth momentum achieved in 2025, we remain fully committed to expanding our international presence and strengthening partnerships across key markets."

Carter-Chapman added: "We are delighted to have secured the Egyptian Tourism Authority as our 2026 Premier Partner this early in the planning cycle.

"We’re excited to work with them over the coming months as they seek to achieve their growth aims and propel them towards their target of 30 million arrivals by 2031."

WTM London 2026 will take place from Tuesday 3 November to Thursday 5 November at Excel London.