Tourists pose for photos near the Sphinx in Giza, Egypt, on July 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)
Egypt receives 3.5 million tourists in 2020, compared to 13.1 million in 2019.
CAIRO, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- A total of 3.5 million tourists visited Egypt in 2020 compared to 13.1 million in 2019, according to Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled al-Anany.
The revenues of tourism in 2020 hit 4 billion U.S. dollars, said al-Anany on Monday, compared to 13.03 billion U.S. dollars in 2019.
A man takes photos of the golden mask of King Tutankhamun at Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt, on July 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)
"Occupancy of the hotels constituted only 10-15 percent of the percentage in 2019," said al-Anany, noting that the ministry has signed a contract with a foreign company to draw a strategy for promoting the tourism map in 2021.
The Tourism Activation Authority earlier said that 65 percent of the tourists who visited Egypt in 2020 came in January and February.
People take photos during an open-air ceremony of an exhibition in Giza, Egypt, Oct. 31, 2020. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)
The country lost at least one billion dollars for each month during the travel ban, according to the statement.
It predicted the recovery will start in March 2021 but the number will still be less than that in 2019.
The tourism industry, a key pillar of Egypt's economic revenues and hard currency, had started to show signs of recovery after years of political turmoil since the 2011 uprising that toppled late president Hosni Mubarak. However, it has suffered a heavy blow with the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. ■
