Egyptian tourism revenues hit record 13 bln USD in 2019

Egypt's tourism revenues hit a record high of 13 billion U.S. dollars in 2019, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The total revenues of tourism sector increased to 13.03 billion dollars in 2019 compared to 11.6 billion dollars in 2018, and 12.5 billion dollars in 2010 which was the peak year in terms of tourist flows," the CBE statement said.

The revenues reached 7.8 billion dollars in 2017, 2.5 billion dollars in 2016, and 6.1 billion dollars in 2015, it added.

The number of tourists who visited Egypt in 2019 was estimated at 13.1 million which was less than that in 2010 which stood at 14.7 million, according to the statement.

As the main source of Egypt's foreign currency, accounting for over 10 percent of GDP, tourism was sharply impacted by the two uprisings of 2011 and 2013 that toppled Egypt's two presidents and shook the country's economy.

The tourism sector started to flourish again after Egypt had improved its security and stability, with 11.3 million visitors in 2018, 8.3 million in 2017, 7.7 million in 2016 and 3.8 million in 2015, according to the statement.

Sameh Saad, CEO of travel agency Misr Travel, attributed the improvement in tourism in 2019 to the measures taken by the ministry of tourism to restructure the sector.

Terrorist attacks and security challenges brought Egypt's tourism almost to a halt over the past nine years, he told Xinhua.

But the industry has been bouncing back after the ministry of tourism embarked on a five-year plan to restructure the sector by carrying out institutional and legislative reform, upgrading infrastructure, increasing investment and updating promotion mechanisms, he noted.

It is worth noting that Egypt set new hotel standards in 2019 to avoid incidents regarding hygiene and food, according to Saad.