ChatGPT has recently gained popularity in various fields, including higher education, as an evolved human-like Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot tool that provides real-time responses in the context of virtual conversations. This research aims to explore Egyptian tourism higher education students' perceptions of ChatGPT usage. Accordingly, a quantitative approach was employed via an online semi-structured questionnaire to investigate students' perceptions of using ChatGPT, examining variations of perceptions across their gender, grade level, prior knowledge and experience with using ChatGPT. Data were collected in the fall semester of the academic year 2023-2024, involving Egyptian students of the faculty of tourism and hotels at Alexandria University. The results indicated that participants have positive perceptions of ChatGPT usage with a relatively lower level of concerns regarding credibility. Finally, research implications were discussed, shedding light on the way the students perceive ChatGPT, giving insights into the effective policies to adopt this tool in Egyptian tourism higher education institutions.