DUBAI: Around 300,000 tourists have arrived in Egypt since the reopening of tourism in the country in July, national daily Egypt Today has reported, citing government data.
“When they ask me, 'What is the proof that your country is safe for tourists?' I say that all 300,000 tourists returned their safely, without any infections of COVID-19,” Egypt's Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled El-Anani, who was confident of the country’s efforts to revive the industry, said.
The minister added the daily tourism rate in Egypt until the end of August was 6,000, although he admitted “we did not anticipate this tourist influx” amid the global crisis.
“We admit that since we have made the PCR test a compulsory term for travelers to be allowed into Egypt, the numbers decreased by 60 percent, from 6,600 to 2,400 per day. However, shortly after, the numbers returned to normal again, as we almost exceeded 3,000 tourists a day last week,” El-Anani explained.
International flights were suspended in March when the coronavirus was officially declared a pandemic. Since then, Egypt has only been operating repatriation flights.
But in July, international air travel for tourism gradually started.
Airports across Egypt have been implementing strict precautionary measures to ensure the safety of travelers, especially as the country observes a spike in the number of tourists coming in.
