Egypt’s Tourism Minister has extended for another year a ministry ban on applications from entrepreneurs for licences for new tourism companies. Hesham Zaazou placed a temporary halt on new companies last June “because the country does not need them.” The decision to extend the ban means that no new companies have opened for two years now as a result of the deteriorating tourism sector in Egypt.
According to the official gazette, the extension was made following a request made by the head of the department of tourism firms and tour guides at the ministry. The Federation of Tourism Chambers was consulted about the move.
Furthermore, the Egyptian government has decided to postpone debt repayments for tourism investors, freeze legal procedures against them and postpone their payment of electricity and other utilities bills in order to alleviate their financial burdens. This is especially important for companies and hotels that have stopped operating in the resorts of Sharm Al-Shaikh and Hurghada.
Since the crash of a Russian aircraft on 31 October last year above the Sinai Peninsula, in which everyone on board was killed, Britain and a number of other European countries stopped direct flights to Sharm Al-Shaikh, a decision which has severely damaged tourism in the key Egyptian resort. Responsibility for the plane crash was claimed by Daesh.
Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said in a televised interview on Monday that tourism revenues in Egypt have declined by around $1.3 billion since the Russian plane crash.
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