Egypt is aiming for tourism revenues of $6 billion-$7 billion in 2021, the deputy tourism minister told Reuters.
Tourism revenue, a key source of foreign currency for Egypt, plunged by 70% in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Tourism usually accounts for up to 15% of the country’s gross domestic product.
The USAID spending $18 mil to promote tourism....in Egypt: https://t.co/vbTkpbKVOc pic.twitter.com/SBbcUU2uDi
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 23, 2018
The number of tourists visiting Egypt sank to 3.5 million last year from 13.1 million in 2019.
Egypt expects to see around 60% of the number of visitors it had in 2019 this year, Ghada Shalaby said.
The country hopes to attract more than 1 million Russian tourists during the rest of 2021 as direct flights between the two countries are set to resume, she added.
Once shaken by political unrest, tourism in Egypt is surging again https://t.co/UZuUolkZl5
— Bloomberg (@business) November 21, 2019
Russian agency Interfax reported on Tuesday that an announcement on the resumption of charter flights to Egypt was expected “soon”.
Egyptology Is Having a Big Moment. But Will Tourists Come?
— Africa Updates (@africaupdates) April 26, 2021
Tourism in Egypt has been buffeted by political instability and terrorism. But the pandemic has dealt the industry its biggest blow in years.https://t.co/yyYCaB8KFD
Direct flights to popular Egyptian resorts were suspended after the still unexplained crash of a Russian passenger plane in Sinai in October 2015, killing 224 people, which some reports blamed on terrorist action.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
