Egypt’s tourism revenues at $3.5-4 billion in H1 – deputy minister

Egypt’s tourism revenues have ranged between $3.5 billion to $4 billion during the first half of the year, deputy minister of tourism Ghada Shalaby told Reuters on Sunday.

The North African country received around 3.5 million tourists from January to June, Shalaby said.

The country’s revenues from the tourism sector stood at about $4 billion in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, down by 70 percent from $13.03 billion recorded 2019.

“We are expecting that numbers of tourists will increase by 45% to 60% during the next period compared with last year,” Shalaby further told Reuters.

The average spending of a tourist per night is around $95, she said.

Tourism revenue is a vital source of foreign currency for Egypt and the industry usually accounts for up to 15 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).