Average monthly tourism revenues for 2020 have declined 85-92%, minister

Average monthly tourism revenues for 2020 have witnessed a decline of 85-92 percent, according to Sandra Farid, an economic advisor to Tourism Minister Khaled El Anany told Al Mal.

Tourism bringing in between $80 mn and $ 150 mn a month compared to an average of $ 1 bn a month last year, she added.

Travel restrictions in Western Europe due to covid-19’s second wave has meant that Egypt now depends mostly on tourists from Eastern Europe, Farid said, with Ukrainian tourists making up the bulk of visitors to Egypt since commercial flights resumed in July.

Tourism arrivals to Egypt had dropped 62.3 percent  y-o-y in 1H2020 according to the World Tourism Organization, which also estimated a 90.4 percent drop in tourism receipts in 2Q2020. Egypt’s tourist arrivals reached a record 13 mn last year before the covid-19 pandemic brought the industry to a halt.