São Paulo – Tourism revenue in Egypt dropped by 41% in 2013, according to information from the minister of Tourism, Hisham Zaazou, as reported by news agency Reuters this Tuesday (21). In 2013, the country’s revenues in the sector, which is one of Egypt’s main sources of income, reached US$ 5.9 billion. In 2012, the country earned US$ 10 billion with tourism.
The revenue decrease was the result of political instability in the country. In the beginning of July last year, former president Mohamed Morsi was deposed. The removal of Morsi from the position led to manifestations which kept tourists away. In the beginning of 2011, uprisings had already caused Hosni Mubarak’s removal. Between the two presidential falls, however, the country’s tourism revenues had recovered.
According to information from the Central Bank of Egypt, in the first Egyptian fiscal quarter of 2012, which starts on the 1st of July, Egypt’s revenues with foreign visitors reached US$ 2.64 billion. In the same period in 2013, the sector’s revenue was of US$ 931.1 million. In the same comparison, foreigners spent 15 million nights in the country during the period in 2013, 57% less than in same period in the previous year.
*Transalated by Silvia Lindey
