Egypt 2025: benefits, travel packages and new excursions by CG

We’ve already written about Carthage Group’s developments in Egypt, about the growing trend of «conscious tourism» and the combo tours we offer our guests in this very spirit. These are journeys that let you embrace the boundless, delivering the widest spectrum of emotions and experiences in a single trip.

Today, we continue the conversation. Our guest is Svetlana Kravtsova, Egypt Destination Manager at Carthage Group and a seasoned tourism professional. She shares insights of the Carthage Group’s offerings in the land of sphinxes and pyramids for the new travel season.

Svetlana, could you remind us what combo tours are?

Today’s travelers are becoming more demanding. They want to get the most diverse experiences out of their trips. That’s why we offer tours that combine several days of high-quality beach relaxation, wellness retreats at therapeutic springs, and an educational historical segment.

For example, tourists can fly into Cairo, stay in the city to explore its landmarks, then head to Hurghada or Sharm El Sheikh to enjoy the sea, and finally depart home from there. Last year, the number of such tours grew almost fourfold for us. At Carthage Group, we offer itineraries for virtually every taste, allowing travelers to immerse themselves in Egypt’s atmosphere and feel the pulse of this country. These include multi-day Nile cruises, trips to Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, and much more.

What interesting new offers have appeared this year?

We strive to make discovering Egypt not just fascinating, but also financially rewarding for our guests. That’s why we’ve developed extensive bonus programs this season for vacationers at popular Red Sea resorts.

For example, when booking any excursion in Sharm El Sheikh, our guests receive two additional tours as gifts, a fixed city tour of Sharm plus one tour of their choice. Other bonus options include free local SIM cards with internet access, private transfers to the airport for your return flight, or complimentary rides to SOHO Square, Sharm El Sheikh’s famous entertainment promenade featuring bars, restaurants and nightclubs. A similar program is available in Hurghada.

In addition to these bonus programs, we’ve introduced special package deals, sets of three excursions at discounted prices. We’ve carefully composed these combinations to let guests experience Egypt’s remarkable diversity, blending educational historical tours, entertaining marine excursions and adventurous desert experiences. One of Hurghada’s packages perfectly illustrates this concept. A trip to Cairo and a visit to a marine island with a refreshing glass-bottom boat ride featuring an exhilarating dune safari adventure.

Our special package deals will likely appeal to many, though some might shrug and ask: «How is this better than excursions sold by street vendors? You can mix and match those too, and the prices can seem quite attractive». 

Here’s what sets us apart. We genuinely care about our travelers. To us, they’re not just «passing customers» we interact with for a few hours and forget the next day. We partner with tour operators who send travelers our way, and we support our guests in countless situations, whether it’s guiding them through contacting Egyptian authorities or local doctors, helping activate insurance, or advising on any of the «thousand and one» issues that can arise when vacationing abroad.

We invest significant effort and leverage all the resources available to us as an established company to ensure the excursions we offer are organized to the highest standard. When you book with us, you’re not just paying for an experience, you’re gaining peace of mind and reliable support every step of the way.

«We leverage all the resources available to us as a large company». What does this look like in practice?

When it comes to transfers for excursions, we provide comfortable and safe vehicles that have undergone mandatory inspections and are driven by experienced, qualified drivers.

For language support, our tours are conducted either in the guests’ native language (e.g., Bulgarian) or in high-quality English, which most travelers understand, unlike street agencies that use random languages.

As for guides, ours are true professionals with deep expertise, capable of captivating travelers with engaging stories. And it’s not just about entertainment. They also ensure safety. For example, during snorkeling, our guide-instructors always stay in the water with tourists, swimming alongside them, something that rarely happens with street vendors’ excursions.

We provide sun umbrellas in Luxor and drinking water on buses during hot weather. We arrange hot meals for tourists when needed, and this is just a small part of what we do to ensure the comfort and safety of the travelers we’re responsible for.

This level of care, prioritizing comfort, safety, and engaging experiences, is truly valuable. I suppose tourists happily return to you again and again, choosing your services?

Actually, yes. But the secret isn’t just about safety, comfort, or interesting content. We take guest feedback very seriously. Before departure, we ask them where else they’d like to visit in Egypt. By analyzing this input, we develop new programs and routes, all wrapped in Carthage Group’s signature quality.

One such example is our new tour to the Dendera Temple Complex. The site is steeped in legends. Some visit to pray for children, others for a spouse or family happiness. And, as the stories go, these wishes really do come true, which is something we sincerely hope for our dear guests.

Another innovation born from guest feedback is our updated Cairo tour. Typically, it includes the Giza Pyramids and the Egyptian Museum. However, we noticed not all guests enjoy the museum part (though the Egyptian Museum is undoubtedly worth visiting). So, we now offer an alternative: pairing the pyramids with either the museum or a guided walking tour of Old Cairo, featuring ancient churches, mosques, and landmarks from the late 19th to early 20th centuries.

Recently, we’ve also added several brand-new excursions for Red Sea resort guests, and we’ll be delighted to introduce these programs to travelers heading to Egypt soon.

What about travel in today’s trending MICE (business and corporate tourism) format?

Here, discussing systemic updates doesn’t make much sense. These trips are usually custom-designed upon request, making each one unique.

Many of our MICE clients request such unconventional experiences that we often need special permits from Egyptian authorities. For example, arranging visits to landmarks at sunrise, sunset, or under specific lunar phases (common in today’s popular retreat tours). And, circling back to the advantages of being a large company, we have all the necessary resources to handle such requests, and we can afford it.

By the way, let me add a few words about our bonus program. Not for MICE, but for group travel (big families or friends). First, we offer group discounts. Second, if we guarantee that only your group will be on the tour, with no outsiders added, then that’s exactly what you’ll get. Unlike street agencies, where they’ll likely merge groups despite promises made «on the shore.»

We’re excited to welcome guests in the upcoming 2025 velvet season! And we’ll definitely talk again with our colleagues in Egypt about how travelers are greeted in this amazing, endlessly fascinating country.