Egypt attracts tourists with ancient tombs

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Following 18 months of travel restrictions, tourists can now enjoy the beauty of the ancient tombs in Egypt. Tourism accounts for 9% of Egypt’s GDP. However, according to the Egypt tourism ministry, less than a quarter of the usual number of tourists visited Egypt in 2020, thereby marking a 55% drop in GDP.

The tourism industry had already suffered from unsteadiness in Egypt after the 2011 political unrest. However, since the beginning of 2021, authorities are hoping again for profitable times.

The Egypt government made the vaccination of tourism workers in the South Sinai and the Red Sea governorates a top priority. COVID-19 restrictions for tourists are also comparatively light: a single negative PCR test upon arrival has been requested since July 2020.

Islam Fares, Director General of the union of Arab tourist guides said, “Tourism is starting to recover. If we look at the pyramid or the Egyptian Museum, we will find a very large occupancy rate, whether from internal or external tourism, especially after receiving Russian tourism we began to see very large occupancy rate from external tourism in Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada and also MarsaAlam.”

As per the Ministry of Tourism statistics, there’s a noticeable increase in tourist numbers: since the beginning of 2021, Egypt has welcomed 300,000 tourists every month. By April, this figure went up to more than half a million each month, which is around 50% of visitors pre-pandemic.

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