Russia-Ukraine war: Egypt's tourism sector expects painful blow

Egypt’s tourism sector is dreading the fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with the trade a significant nation-wide generator of revenue and an indispensable employment supply. 

Vacationers from Russia and Ukraine make up the majority of tourists to the Arab nation, historically constituting virtually a 3rd of the 12 million vacationers who visited in peak years. 

Between 300,000 and 500,000 Russian vacationers are believed to have visited Egypt every month as of July final 12 months, with 125,000 Russian vacationers visiting the nation within the first two weeks of 2022. In the meantime, in 2019, 1.6 million Ukrainian vacationers visited Egypt. 

LIVE: Preventing underway over Kyiv airbase as Russian invasion continues

Learn Extra »

The variety of Ukrainian vacationers dropped to a bit of greater than 700,000 in 2020, demonstrating the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on the tourism sector. 

Tour operators and traders are working with brokers in different nations to evaluate the impression of the disaster on their trade.

“Results from the battle have already began showing, with bookings from the 2 nations stopping altogether,” Basel al-Sisi, a member of the Egyptian Journey Brokers’ Affiliation, informed Center East Eye.

“Russians and Ukrainians are simply afraid that they’d not be capable of return to their nations in the event that they get out of them now.” 

Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli mentioned on Wednesday that his authorities was carefully following the Russian-Ukrainian disaster and its attainable political and financial results on Egypt. 

ADVERTISEMENT

The federal government, he mentioned, would make extra efforts to search out various sources of vacationers in case the state of affairs grew to become worse. 

There’s certainty inside authorities quarters that the battle will lower the variety of vacationers visiting Egypt from the 2 nations, in addition to from their neighbours. 

There are larger fears nonetheless that the disaster will have an effect on Egypt’s tourism sector for a few years to return, Sisi the tourism official mentioned. 

Simply recovering

The Egyptian tourism sector has been attempting to recuperate from a sequence of setbacks up to now few years.

These embrace the downing in late 2015 of a Russian passenger airplane over Sinai, an incident that brought about the demise of all 224 passengers and crew members aboard the plane, and led many nations – together with Russia – to droop flights to Egypt. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin allowed the return of constitution flights to Egypt in July 2021, reviving Egyptian hopes for a tourism restoration. 

The tourism sector was hit onerous additionally by the Covid-19 pandemic, throughout which Egyptian authorities suspended incoming flights from all nations in March 2020, earlier than resuming them three months later. 

Russia-Ukraine battle: 1000’s of Arab college students stranded as bombs fall

Learn Extra »

In March 2020, Egyptian Tourism Minister Khaled al-Anani mentioned his nation had misplaced $1 billion in revenues every month due to the suspension of flights and the closure of the nation’s most important vacationer locations.

Tourism contributed 11.9 % to Egypt’s gross home product and employed 9.5 % of its workforce in 2018.

To prop up this important sector of the economic system, Egyptian authorities constructed and renovated museums, together with the gigantic Grand Egyptian Museum close to the Giza Plateau, the place tens of 1000’s of historical artefacts could be transferred from the Egyptian Museum in downtown Cairo. 

A number of breathtaking parades and occasions have additionally bolstered the sector, together with worldwide sports activities tournaments, a procession of dozens of royal mummies by the streets of Cairo and the opening of the Avenue of Rams between Luxor Temple and Karnak Temple within the historical metropolis of Luxor. 

When the tourism sector reopened in July 2020, Egyptian tourism and well being authorities ready an extended record of precautionary measures for the nation’s tourism services. In November, the Egyptian prime minister described tourism as a difficulty of “nationwide safety”.  

Conserving afloat

The tourism sector began bouncing again in 2021, with revenues reaching $13 billion final 12 months, from $4 billion within the earlier 12 months.  

There’s worry amongst tourism specialists that an prolonged Russia-Ukraine disaster will convey incoming vacationer ranges and tourism revenues to pre-recovery charges.

“The issue is that the battle has erupted at a really dangerous time for the [Egyptian] tourism sector, when it was simply attempting to compensate among the losses it sustained over the previous years,” Noura Ali, the top of the Committee on Tourism and Civil Aviation within the Home of Deputies, informed MEE. 

Unbiased tourism specialist Alaa al-Ghamri is looking on Cairo’s authorities to begin considering of a stimulus package deal for the tourism sector.

“The battle may have devastating results on the sector and we must always begin appearing now to rescue this sector,” Ghamri informed MEE. “We have to concentrate on various markets, together with in European states which can be situated far-off from Russia and Ukraine.”

Past tourism

Egypt expects the impression of the Russian-Ukrainian disaster to be far reaching, given the Arab nation’s dependence on the 2 nations, notably with regards to wheat imports. 

Russia and Ukraine ship Egypt a sizeable portion of the wheat it must feed its 100 million-string inhabitants annually. Just below 55 % of Egypt’s wheat imports come from Russia, and almost 15 % from Ukraine.

Egypt is by far the world’s largest importer of wheat and the suspension of imports from the 2 nations is sending Egyptian officers scrambling for alternate options. 

Throughout his assembly with cupboard ministers earlier this week, the Egyptian prime minister mentioned the nation’s wheat reserves would cowl nationwide wants for the approaching 4 months. 

“The wheat harvesting season may also begin in April,” Madbouli added. 

Native agriculture specialists count on native wheat output to cowl home wants for an extra 4 months. 

This comes as Egypt additionally expects to pay extra for wheat imports, in case Russia and Ukraine are dropped from the record of worldwide suppliers, and the battle impacts wheat costs on the worldwide market. 

The disaster can also drive Egypt to pay extra for its oil imports, with its results showing in a current rise in crude oil costs worldwide.