By Akram Medhat
Egypt's tourism sector revenues for the first half of this year, 2017, totaled about $2.7 billion, up 176% from the same period of 2016, which recorded $979 million, bringing them relatively close to the 2015 revenue level of $3.4 billion, before the Russian tourism crisis.
This notable improvement in tourism revenues came as a result of the increase in tourist arrivals to Egypt, which reached 3.6 million during the first half of 2017, amid a gradual recovery and a strong rebound in traffic from the main and major tourist markets to their favorite destinations.
According to tourism statistics obtained exclusively by "Travel Yalla News", the second quarter of this year accounted for the largest share of tourism revenues, at $1.5 billion, while the first quarter saw $1.2 billion.
April recorded the highest tourism revenues in the first 6 months of the year, at $547 million, as it saw the highest tourist turnout, with 716,000 tourists arriving.
It is worth noting that total inbound tourism to Egypt in the first half of 2017 reached about 3.6 million tourists, up 52% compared with the same period in 2016, and they spent about 32 million tourist nights, an increase of 135%, on which the sector's revenues are estimated. This had a significant positive impact, raising average daily spending per tourist to $84, compared with $72 last year.
Tourism contributes about 20% of Egypt's foreign currency income, as it is one of the most important sources of foreign exchange, and it therefore directly affects exchange rates against the Egyptian pound, especially that of the dollar.
A table showing the monthly development of tourism sector revenues during the first half of 2017:
Month | Revenue (million dollars) |
|---|---|
January | 357 |
February | 372 |
March | 447 |
April | 547 |
May | 527 |
June | 428 |
