CAIRO — The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism is drafting an ambitious plan to attract 20 million tourists by 2020 and to boost the sector's total revenues to $26 billion.

Minister of Tourism Khaled Rami believes this goal can be achieved through a new international advertising campaign that is set to begin in December 2015. The campaign will focus on the diversity of tourism in Egypt, in particular Nile tourism, as well as desert outings, sports, therapeutic retreats and religious tourism.

Elhamy el-Zayat, chairman of the Egyptian Federation of Chambers of Tourism, told Al-Monitor, “It is possible to achieve the goal of 20 million tourists, but reaching the estimated revenues of $26 billion is difficult in light of the prices at which the Egyptian tourism product is offered.”

Zayat said that achieving the revenue target requires increasing the number of cultural tourists coming to Egypt to visit temples and museums, and increasing the number of nights tourists spend in Egypt. In March 2015, the number of tourists totaled 834.6 million, marking an increase of 10.6% compared with March 2014.