Egypt’s tourism revenues hiked by 6.7% during the third quarter (Q3) of 2019, recording $4.2bn, compared to only $3.9bn during the same period last year, according to the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) balance of payment.
In the third quarter (Q3) of 2019, tourism recorded the highest quarterly revenues for Egypt ever, marking the fourth time that quarterly revenue exceeds $4bn.
Commenting on this hike, Amary Abdel Aziz, former head of the Tourism and Aviation division in the Chamber of Commerce attributed this hike to political stability, increased security in airports, the new ways of promoting Egypt, the addition of new activities, and the types of tourism that people can enjoy in Egypt.
He also praised the ministry’s focus on the state’s sponsorship of the African Cup of Nations this past summer, which helped promote Egypt as a major tourist destination.
Abdel Aziz pointed to the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is scheduled to be inaugurated in early 2020, stating that it gives a positive indicator for Egypt’s security.
Tourism suffered a major blow in Egypt after the 2011 Revolution, and continued to spiral downward after the Russian passenger plane crashed in Sinai in late October 2015, leaving no survivors.
Meanwhile, since 2018, the sector began to come back to life. The previous fiscal year witnessed the highest annual number of revenue of tourism in Egypt at $ 12.6 bn, according to the CBE’s data, up 28.2% from 2017-2018, in which tourism revenues were recorded at about $ 9.8 bn.
On the positive side, Q3 2019 tourism revenues exceed the value of the sector’s revenues in 2015-2016, when Egypt’s tourism revenues recorded $3.8bn, according to the CBE.
Moreover, the state’s tourism revenues during Q3 2019 is close to the sector’s revenues in the year 2016-2017, which amounted to about $4.4bn
“In order to return back to 2010 tourism revenues rates, Egypt needs to see more cooperation between both the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Tourism, and to diversify tourism markets, as well as opening new markets, and promoting Egypt in non-traditional ways,” Abdel Azim suggests.
