Browsing: Tourism in Egypt

Egypt’s tourism revenues fell by 67.2% due to COVID-19 in 2020 after recording $13 billion in 2019 when Egypt received 13 million international tourists; in 2020 it received 9.5 million. 

Egypt’s Tourism and Antiquities minister Khaled Al-Anani said, “We witnessed a great year in 2019 in terms of numbers and revenues, and the first two months in 2020 were 8% higher, with 2.4 million tourists. The goal now is not to measure the number of tourists, but to say Egypt is a safe tourist destination even amid the coronavirus crisis.” 

He added that a total of 65% of tourists in 2020 did so in January and February.  

With the outbreak in March, Egypt closed its hotels but reopened them after two months with about 25% maximum occupancy later increasing it to 50%…

Egypt, one of Africa’s strong economy—has seen a sharp rise in business activity which bounced back in June, marking a 4-month high record, as the North-African recovers from the coronavirus grip and showing signs of uneven recovery.

According to information from IHS Marki, Egypt non-oil sector rose sharply, while the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 44.6 in June from 40.7 in May, remaining below the threshold of 50 that separates growth from contraction.

However, the rebound is felt evenly as still things tighten, unemployment has risen to 9.2 per cent, firms cutting wages at a fast pace in four years—hence HIS economist anticipates potential change.

READ:IMF $5.2 Billion Stand-By Arrangement for Egypt

A different view

On the other side, before the pandemic, the World Bank’s Macro Poverty Outlook noted that growth was driven by a macroeconomic stabilization program that was largely successful, generating a solid primary budget surplus, …

Egypt, one of Africa’s vibrant tourism destination, has recorded a 5.6 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the past six months, to December 2019, Reuters said a government statement revealed the information.

Tourism has been attributed to Egypt’s economic growth in the last three years, strong remittances from Egyptian workers abroad and recently discovered natural gas fields coming on stream.

Hence, the nation’s growth has mainly been driven by the state sector. The World Bank (WB) spotlighted the nation’s economy and noted that, on the sectoral side, gas extractives, wholesale and retail trade, real estate and construction have been the main drivers of growth.

Unemployment decreased to 7.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of FY19 (from 9.9 per cent a year earlier), although accompanied by shrinking labour force participation.

According to Reuters January poll, the economy is expected to grow 5.8 per cent in the fiscal year ending …