Cairo – Mubasher: The tourism sector is expected to be much better this year than 2017, Business Forward reported, citing board executive chairman at Orascom Development Holding Samih Sawiris.
“We are slowly getting over the fear factor that was spread around Europe that Egypt is dangerous,” Sawiris said at an event hosted by Acumen Consulting.
He does not consider delaying the return of Russian flights to Egypt until April as a problem.
Egypt should not depend on Russian tourism only, as the Arab world's most populous nation can attract tourists from other countries, such as Germany, England, France, and Italy, he pointed out.
“The only problem is that some hotel owners are relying entirely on [the Russians]. The overall numbers look quite good,” Sawiris noted.
Given that Egypt comes at the 166th spot out of 185 countries in terms of the 2017 tourism sector growth forecast, on which the North African state is projected to capture the 27th rank by 2027, according to a recent report by the World Travel and Tourism Council.
It is worth note that Russian flights to Cairo had been suspended after a Russian airplane crashed over the Sinai Peninsula in October 2015, resulting in a death toll of 224 people on board.
