Egypt expects more than a million Russian tourists in 2021, as direct flights between the two countries, including Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada, are expected to resume in the coming weeks. Gada Shalabi, Egypt's deputy tourism minister, noted that in 2021, Egypt could register up to 50% of the number of tourists it had in 2019, after their number dropped by 70% in 2020 due to the pandemic. of Covid-19.
According to Reuters, the number of visitors who traveled to Egypt in 2020 has dropped to 3,5 million from 13,1 million in 2019. Egypt, a country that relies heavily on tourism as its main source of income, is looking for solutions this year for attract $ 6 billion to $ 7 billion, Shalabi added.
It took the Russians almost six years to resume direct flights to popular Red Sea resorts after a Russian plane crashed in the Sinai Peninsula in October 2015, killing all 224 people on board. An aircraft Airbus A321 under Metrojet colors it crashed in the Sinai desert and killed everyone on board.