Egyptian tourism revenues exceeded $13 bn in 2021, returning to pre-pandemic levels, Al Borsa reports Deputy Tourism Minister Ghada Shalaby as saying, citing a Reuters story.
The sector has been recovering on the back of the lifting of travel restrictions worldwide and mass vaccination programs at home and abroad. Tourism revenues hit a record high of $13.03 bn in 2019 before dropping nearly 70% in 2020 on the back of the pandemic.
The recovery looks to have been faster than anyone expected: 2021 revenues eclipsed the USD 6-9 bn target set by the ministry last summer. And lest we forget, this time last year the ministry wasn’t hoping for a recovery in tourist numbers until the fall of 2022 — while others had said we might not see the sector bounce back until 2024.
Most of the revenues came in 2H2021: Tourism revenues reached around USD 3.1 bn in 1H2021, according to balance of payments data — meaning that revenues in the second half of 2021 recorded at least USD 9.9 bn (surpassing the range the ministry had hoped to see for the full year.)
