São Paulo – The number of tourists who visited Egypt in July this year was down 24.5% from the same period last year. According to the monthly report released this Wednesday (11th) by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (Capmas), 765,000 people visited the country in July this year. In the same month last year, 1 million visitors travelled to the North African country.
The sharpest decline in tourist influx to Egypt in July, 58.6%, was seen among visitors from Arab countries. Only 90,000 people from North Africa and the Middle East travelled to the country. Europe issued 629,500 tourists to Egypt in July, down 14% from July 2012.
On July 3rd, Egypt was left with no president for the second time in two years. Mohamed Morsi, who won the presidential elections last year, was overthrown by the military. He was elected nearly one year and a half after the dictator Hosni Mubarak stepped down, on February 11th, 2011.
According to Capmas figures, Egypt saw the highest tourist influx ever in 2010. In 2011, the year of Mubarak’s downfall, 10 million people travelled to the country, an amount which increased to 11.5 million in 2012.
Up until July this year, the Egyptian tourism industry was faring better than in 2012. In the first seven months this year, 6.7 million tourists arrived in Egypt, up 8% from 6.2 million in the same period of 2012. Still, in July alone, influx was down 44% from 1.3 million tourists in July 2010, according to information from the newspaper Al Ahram.
The tourism industry accounts for roughly 9% of Egypt’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In order to prevent the figures from dropping even further, the Egyptian government has launched an incentive plan for Egyptians to travel around the country. The project includes travel packages, air ticket promotions, and stays at four- and five-star hotels.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
