The number of tourist arrivals in Egypt dropped 41.9 percent in July compared with the same month last year. According to theEgypt's official statistics authority, about 529,000 tourists arrived in Egypt in July 2016 versus 912,000 in July 2015.
The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said that the decline was mostly attributed to the 60 percent drop in the Russian tourists visiting Egypt following the flight ban after a Russian plane carrying 224 people crashed in Sinai after taking off from Sharm El-Sheikh airport last year.
Britain suspended its flights to Sharm El-Sheikh after the crash, resulting in a 17.5 percent drop in British tourists in July this year. German and Polish tourists dropped by 10.4 percent and 3.8 percent respectively; both countries suspended flights to Sharm.
Egypt did however see an increase in tourism from Arab countries, with 233,000 tourists in July 2016 compared to 182,000 visitors during the same month last year, marking a 28.1 percent increase.
Receipts from the tourism industry are expected to range between $4 billion to $4.5 billion by end of the current year, Finance Minister Amr El-Garhy said in July.
Total tourism revenues in 2015 registered $6.1 billion.
A Russian delegation of experts is expected to arrive in Cairo this week to inspect security measures at Egyptian airports amid expectation of a resumption of Russian commercial flights to Egypt in October.
Turkey announced that flights to Sharm El-Sheikh would be resumed in September.
Poland and Germany have both since lifted their restrictions on direct flights to the airport.
Source: Ahram Online
