São Paulo – The number of tourists in Egypt in April dropped by 22% compared to the same period last year. According to information from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism released this Friday (23rd) by the newspaper Al Ahram, a total of 859,800 foreigners visited the country last month. In April 2013, visitors amounted to 1.1 million.
The Ministry of Tourism also informs that the number of nights spent by visitors was smaller. Overall, foreigners spent 7.6 million nights in the North African country in April this year, against 11 million nights in April 2013.
The majority of tourists visiting Egypt last month came from Europe. A total of 681,600 people from the continent were in the Arab country, a volume 24% smaller than the previous year. Among the Arabs, the decline was 34.3%: 100,400 visitors from Middle East and North Africa countries traveled to Egypt in April.
As regards the Arabs, Saudis were the exception. The number of tourists from the country grew 17.4% and reached 19,800. The number of visitors from Saudi Arabia should grow in the next months due to the creation of a ferryboat service connecting Hurghada, Egypt to Dhaba, Saudi Arabia from June on. EgyptAir began operating flights between Hurghada and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia this year.
Year-to-date, the quantity of foreign tourists has also dropped in comparison to the first four months in 2013. According to information from the Ministry of Tourism, the country received 2.8 million visitors between January and April, figures 2.75% smaller than in the same period last year.
Tourism revenue accounts for 11% of Egypt’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to information from the Egyptian government. The number of tourists has plummeted, however, due to political instability plaguing the country since 2011.
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça
