The number of tourists visiting Egypt in the first half of 2018 reached 5.1 million, up 40 percent year-on-year. April saw the largest number of tourists visit the country, with 990,000, Al-Ahram Weekly reports. with reference to official sources.
The total number of nights spent by tourists in Egypt in the first half of 2018 was 50 million, up 60 percent from the previous year. By the end of the year, the Ministry of Tourism expects to welcome at least 9.5 million guests to the country, and if charter flights from Russia to Egyptian resorts are restored before 2019, this figure is expected to increase to 10 million people.
Tourism revenue in the first half of the year amounted to $ 4.8 billion, an increase of 77% compared to the first half of 2017. Despite the strong recovery, the country's tourism figures are still below the 2010 peak, when its resorts welcomed 14 million tourists., resulting in state revenues of US$12.5 billion.
Ahmed Hassan, CEO of JIT Travel Company, believes that improving the security and political situation in the republic is one of the main factors contributing to the restoration of the tourism sector.
“The return of direct flights from Russia has increased the confidence of foreign tourists in the general situation and security measures at Egyptian airports,” he added. General Manager of the Hotel in Sharm El Sheikh (name not given).
Also, last week The country's tourism ministry issued a statement, which denied that there were “immediate plans to introduce mandatory travel insurance for visitors to Egypt.”
The statement was issued in response to a report published by ITIJ (an international insurance magazine) which claimed that Egypt had decided to make travel insurance compulsory for all visitors following the recent deaths of British tourists John and Susan Cooper in Hurghada.
Meanwhile, despite positive achievements and recovery Egypt's tourism industry still has many industry-specific problems to solve, Al-Hayat columnist Amina Khairi believes.
So, in my in the material Tourism, People and Problems She lists the main problems of the Egyptian tourism industry, including reckless driving, which results in numerous accidents, inappropriate behavior towards tourists by hotel staff and street vendors, garbage in the cities, and underestimation of the country's tourism potential.
“These are just some of the issues that need to be addressed, as the decline in the number of tourists arriving in Egypt is very significant. Thus, From 14.7 million in 2010, it decreased to 5.4 million in 2016, and the country's annual tourism revenues fell from US$12.5 billion to US$3.8 billion," — the reviewer emphasizes.
According to her data, in 2010, there were people working in tourism about 12% of Egypt's labor forceToday, most of this personnel have gone to work as taxi drivers, street vendors, and low-paid workers.
According to the author, it is now, when Egyptian tourism is trying to regain its tourist flow, It is time to reconsider the attitude towards foreign tourists in Egypt in principle.
"For example, shop owners, street vendors, taxi drivers, passengers on public transport and passers-by must learn to treat guests of the country with respect. This means that annoying glances and remarks, the intention to take selfies with tourists, especially female ones, are extremely inappropriate. If guests want to communicate, they will make it clear themselves,” — the material says.
Speaking about security issues, Amina Khairy touched upon the recent situation with the strange death of two British tourists in a five-star hotel in Hurghada.
According to the author, The authorities were quick to point to natural causes of death as the tourists' deaths, — even before the official results of the investigation and autopsy were announced.
"Certainly, this was done to protect the reputation of the resort and Egypt generally. But this is unfair,” — the author emphasizes.
However, despite all this, there is also much good news, the author writes. According to a recently published report by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Egypt has recovered from years of political unrest: foreign tourist flow to the country increased by 55.1% between 2016 and 2017.
The report also said that the number of visitors to Egypt from traditional markets in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the Middle East, had recovered.
Today, the country is among the TOP most promising tourist destinations in the world. In terms of tourist flow growth, it is followed by Togo (46.7%), San Marino (31.1%), Vietnam (24.9%), Israel (24.6%), Northern Mariana Islands (24.3%), Georgia (27.9%) and Nepal (24.9%).
Source: trn-news.ru
