Egypt hopes for positive 2016 tourism trend
Egyptian Tourism reportedly hit its lowest point in five years and the repercussions of the 25 January revolution have continued to hamper tourism numbers.
A recent report by Egyptian newspaper Daily News Egypt suggested that the authorities are optimistic for a stronger show in 2016.
Head of the Egyptian Tourism Federation Elhamy El-Zayat said the sector has lost over US$15bn during the past five years if 2010 is considered a normative standard for revenues.
The total income of tourism to Egypt in 2010 amounted to $12.5bn, with about 14.7m tourists visiting Egypt, the daily was reported saying.
El-Zayat believes that last year was the worst of the past five years, due to the negative impacts of several tragedies that began with the assassination of Attorney General Hisham Barakat mid-year and followed by the deaths of the ten Mexican tourists in September in the Western Dessert, and the Russian plane crash in October.
“Revenues this year will not exceed $6bn, compared to $7.3bn last year, but we hope the sector will recover in 2016”, he told Daily News Egypt.
Deputy chairman of Tourism Investors Association in Marsa Allam Tarek Shalaby said investors still have hope for the sector to recover in 2016 since the government has contracted a security review company for airports.
The governorates of the Red Sea and South Sinai had experienced the least pronounced decline in tourism resulting from Egypt’s political instability since the 25 January Revolution in 2011. But following the Russian aeroplane crash, Britain halted all flights to Sharm el-Sheikh while Russia clamped-down tourist trips to Egypt.
Occupancy in Sharm El-Sheikh hotels was at 70% before the plane crash and was expected to increase to 85% but it fell to below 20% in December, according to head of the Tourism Investment Association in South Sinai Hesham Ali.
South Sinai accounts for about 35% of hotel capacity in Egypt with a total 225,000 hotel rooms operating in accordance with the Egyptian Chamber of Hotels. According to an official, the crisis needs to be studied to enable the sector to respond to crises.
The ministry has been coordinating with other ministerial bodies as well as private airlines and the local tourism sectors in light of modern changes in the global tourism market, in terms of marketing and travel. Ali said that hotels in South Sinai lost over $1bn per month since the crisis in October.
The Ministry of Tourism has promoted domestic tourist programmes for Egyptians to increase occupancy in Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada. Ali told the news daily that most tourists in South Sinai now are Egyptians.
El-Zayat also told the Daily News Egypt that Russian and British flights will not return to Sharm El-Sheikh before the end of January, considering the political situation. “It is no longer a problem with tourism,” he said, “it has become a political decision awaiting the political will of countries”.
Russian inbound tourism to Egypt usually accounts for about 35% of the total tourism flow, while British tourists account for 11%, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism.
Control Risks Security Company said in a press statement in December that reviewing airports will take about three months, which means that flights will only return after the review is concluded.