Cairo-Mubasher: EFG-Hermes said, in a report issued Tuesday, that it expects Egypt’s tourism industry to continue its recovery by the end of the fiscal year 2014/2015.
Statistics show that the tourism sector has begun to rebound after it was dealt a strong blow when European countries issued bans for their citizens against travelling to Egypt due to the violence that erupted following the January 25 uprising and after the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in July 2, 2013.
The research firm also noted that it forecasts the tourism sector to boost the country’s state budget with extra revenues by the end of this fiscal year by nearly $2.5 billion; higher than the revenues achieved in the fiscal year 2013/2014.
Meanwhile, a tourism ministry official told Reuters on Monday revenues from Egypt's tourism sector have jumped 112 % to about $2 billion in the third quarter of 2014, adding that the number of tourists reached 2.8 million compared to 1.6 million in the same quarter last year.
In its latest tourism report the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) showed that the number of tourists visiting Egypt rose in September, 2014 by 193.5% to 883.9 thousand, compared with 301.2 thousand in September, 2013.
According to Mada Masr website, industry experts say improved tourism figures show that tourists have started to feel safe visiting Egypt again. Egypt now has a “better image” than it did last year, says Karim al-Minabawy, president of Emeco Travel. After more than half a year of relative calm, potential visitors feel reassured, he says. “Lots of markets know that safety and security have been fine for months.”
Foreign governments have also been sending positive signals, with countries including Spain, France, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom easing travel warnings in recent months..
Egypt’s Minister of Tourism Hisham Zazou had said earlier that tourists should increase by 5 to 10 % this year as security improves after the election of ex-army chief Fattah El-Sisi as president, according to Al-Arabiya.
More than 14.7 million tourists visited Egypt in 2010, dropping to 9.8 million in 2011. Visitors picked up in 2012 to 11.5 million but shrank to 9.5 million last year after various attacks on tourist destinations. Tourist revenue in the first half of 2014 was $3 billion, down 25 % from a year earlier, the government said in August.
Photo Credit: Arabianeye-Reuters
