Egypt: $9bn loses due to drop in tourism after covid

The Egyptian tourism industry saw revenues drop $9 billion last year compared to the previous year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Khalid Al-Anani, said a total of 3.5 million tourists visited Egypt in 2020 compared to 13.1 million in 2019, with tourism revenues dropping to $4 billion last year compared to $13.03 billion the previous year.

His ministry has now signed a contract with a foreign company to draw up a strategy to promote tourism in 2021, he explained.

“The current goal is not to count the number of visitors, but how to build an exciting reputation for Egypt in order to attract the attention of tourists after the corona crisis,” Al-Anani said.

Egypt stopped air travel between March and July 2020 as part of its coronavirus lockdown. The North African state is now experiencing its second wave of the virus and has recorded 1,407 cases, including 54 deaths over the last 24 hours.

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