(Ecofin Agency) - The Egyptian government is expecting between $6 billion and $7 billion in tourism revenues this year. In an interview with Reuters, the Vice Minister of Tourism Ghada Shalaby said this estimate is the result of an envisaged recovery in the sector after the pandemic.

For 2021, the number of arrivals is forecasted to be 60% of that in 2019. A good recovery trend fostered by a reduction of Covid-19 travel restrictions. Following the implementation of its vaccination campaign and the improvement of relations with its partners, Egypt is now ready for a gradual recovery of its tourism industry.

In that wake, Russia recently announced the soon resumption of direct flights between Moscow and Cairo. This should help achieve the Egyptian government’s ambition of attracting more than one million Russian tourists during the rest of 2021. In addition, the announcement in January of the discovery of archaeological "treasures" should create a new craze for tourism in Egypt.

As a reminder, due to the pandemic and the related restriction measures, Egypt has suffered a sharp decline in tourism revenues. As well, the number of tourists fell from 13.1 million in 2019 to 3.5 million in 2020, making revenues decline by 70% in 2020. The sector contributes an average of 15% to the country’s GDP. 

Carine Sossoukpè (intern)