Tourism in Egypt drops 28% as turmoil drives visitors away

Tourism in Egypt dropped by 28 per cent from January to July following the revolution that swept the country at the beginning of this year, according to the latest figures from the Egyptian Tourism Authority (ETA).

The number of UAE visitors to Egypt declined by 58 per cent to reach 55,000 from January to July, Samy Mahmoud, Head of International Tourism Sector at the ETA, told Gulf News. Vistors from from Kuwait dropped 52 per cent, Saudis by 48 per cent and Jordanians by 17 per cent from January to July, according to the ETA.

The number of Arab tourists visiting Egypt declined by 18.6 per cent in the same period. In July alone, their numbers fell by 28.5 per cent.
This drop was balanced by an increase in tourists from Libya following the uprising in the North African neighbour, and Palestine, after the opening of the Rafah crossing, and Sudan, Mahmoud said.

Egypt welcomed 5.7 million tourists from January to July compared to 8.2 million visitors during the same period last year.
Most of the inbound tourists came from Russia, UK, Germany, Italy and France.

The decline in Arab tourism to Egypt was due to the political unrest in Libya, Syria and Yemen, which limited the number of tourists from there to Egypt and the repercussions of the revoultion in Egypt.