Egypt: Tourism revenues dropped by 57.3% since military coup

Revenues from the tourism sector in Egypt dropped by 57.3 percent in the period between July 2013 and March 2014, coinciding with the July 3 military coup against president Mohamed Morsi, a report by the Central Bank of Egypt revealed.

Revenues in the post-coup period went down to $3.4 billion, compared with $8.1 billion in the same period of the previous year, under the presidency of Morsi.

According to a recent report by CBE, the number of tourist nights in the period between July 2013-March 2014 declined by 55.3 percent, reaching 51.2 million nights, compared to 114.6 million nights during the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Bank sources explained that the drop in tourism revenues is due to the political and security turbulence Egypt has been witnessing following the military coup. The tourism sector, they added, is the most vulnerable in the face of any unrest.