Two Years Since Russian Tourism Stopped, and the Flight Ban Has Not Kept Russians Away From Egypt

60,000 Russian tourists visited Egypt in the first 9 months of 2017

By Akram Medhat

Two years have passed since the Russian government's decision to suspend flights to all Egyptian tourist cities, taken on November 7, 2015, following the crash of the Russian passenger plane in central Sinai on the morning of October 31 of the same year. Egypt has lost its top market from the 2015/2016 winter season until now, despite many talks and summit-level meetings between Presidents El-Sisi and Putin, and the Egyptian president's keenness to discuss the resumption of flights between the two countries and the lifting of the ban.

Although no official statement has been issued on when Russian flights will return to Egypt, this has not prevented Russians from traveling to their favorite cities in Egypt via transit in other neighboring countries, though in small numbers that are weak and not comparable with the normal rates of this important market.

Egypt has managed to face this crisis and is beginning a notable recovery in inbound tourism this year, with positive growth rates and indicators of increased air traffic due to rising demand from tourists, especially from major markets such as Germany, Ukraine, China and Japan, during the past winter and summer seasons and the current winter.

Russian Tourism in 2017

According to tourism statistics obtained exclusively by Travel Yalla News, from the beginning of this year, 2017, to the end of September, Russian tourists recorded 60,000 arrivals in Egypt in the first nine months of 2017, up 70% from the same period of 2016, which recorded 35,000 tourists, and they spent 595,000 tourist nights, an increase of 282%, which proves how attached Russians are to Egypt as a tourist destination.

It is worth noting that the Russian passenger plane crashed about 23 minutes after taking off from Sharm El-Sheikh airport, killing the 217 Russian tourists on board and 7 crew members, and Egyptian tourism faced the biggest crisis in its history, with tourist numbers declining from all major markets, especially Britain, which took the initiative in suspending flights to Sharm El-Sheikh.

Egypt's World Cup Qualification in Russia... Will It Be an Incentive?

Egypt's qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia represented great hope for the resumption of flights between Egypt and Russia, even initially through scheduled flights by the two countries' national carriers between Cairo and Moscow, which would be a major step toward the strong return of Russian tourism, which in turn would press the government in Moscow to open the way for flights to tourist airports, especially Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada.

Airport Security Is No Longer an Excuse

Tourist airports have received numerous visits by security inspection committees from the Russian authorities, and each time the tourism sector expected them to be signs of the resumption of traffic and the lifting of the flight ban, after confirming that the remarks on security procedures at Egyptian airports had been implemented, but they were merely a mirage.

Egyptian airports, especially tourist ones, apply the highest security standards, whether through the latest equipment and full control over travelers, arrivals and even airport staff, or through passenger screening and sterilization procedures that may not be applied at the world's most secure airports, as attested by many inspection committees from the International Civil Aviation Organization and security committees from several countries that send tourists to Egypt; therefore, airport security is no longer an argument against lifting the flight ban.

This year and last also saw presidential talks between El-Sisi and Putin on resuming flights and the return of Russian tourism, in addition to official delegations including the Minister of Civil Aviation or the Foreign Minister, but to no avail.

Development of Russian Traffic and Russians' Defiance of the Flight Ban

Russian tourism ranked first, unrivaled, on the list of tourism markets, accounting for about 32% of total tourist arrivals in Egypt according to 2014 statistics, the record year for Russians, at 3.1 million tourists, surpassing the peak year of 2010, with Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh being their top destinations.

In the crisis year of 2016, Russian tourism recorded its lowest arrivals ever, with the number of Russian tourists in Egypt reaching 54,000, down 98% from 2015, which recorded 2.4 million Russian tourists.

This near-total halt has persisted since the plane crash, but Russians' attachment to Egypt has not stopped them from traveling there; indeed, the Russian bear's defiance of its government's decision has gone as far as achieving increasing growth in the number of Russian tourists this year compared with the crisis year of 2016, with monthly increases ranging from 45% in January to 133% in March, and April recording the highest arrivals at about 9,000 Russian tourists.

A table showing the development of Russian tourism to Egypt from January to September 2017 compared with the same period of 2016: