Years of terrorist attacks and unrest have hollowed out the previously lucrative industry in Egypt.

But now tourists are finding their way back again – something that is confirmed by Swedish travel companies.

After the popular uprising that forced the ouster of dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2011, Egypt's once-popular tourist destinations were empty. Fearing violence and unrest, visitors abandoned the country, whose Red Sea resorts had long been a beloved holiday destination – not least among northern Europeans.

In just three months, Egypt had lost over SEK 14 billion in tourism revenue in May 2011. And the trend continued in the same direction for a long time when the country was shaken by terrorist attacks and violence, such as when a bomb exploded aboard a Russian charter plane over the Sinai Peninsula in 2015.

More visitors this year
But now things seem to be turning around for the bleeding tourism industry, which employs millions of people in Egypt every year. The number of tourists has increased by 40 percent in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period last year, the country's government claims.
“We don't expect to be at 2010 levels yet, but the trend is moving in that direction,” Egypt's newly appointed tourism minister, Rania al-Mashat, told Bloomberg.

In 2010, over 14 million people visited Egypt, compared to around eight million last year.
“Our recovery is strong and we are trying to make our tourism industry more competitive than our competitors,” says al-Mashat.

Tourists will be attracted through a private investment fund that is intended to contribute to the renovation of dilapidated hotels and new investment opportunities on the islands in the Red Sea. Tourism is a very important part of the country's economy, which has been on its knees for many years as unemployment and inflation have increased. The government expects tourism to account for between 15 and 20 percent of GDP in 2018.

Investing in museums
There are several reasons why tourism has picked up steam. The security situation has improved, while the weak currency makes visits cheap for foreigners. The Egyptian government has also invested heavily in bringing back visitors, including plans to open a new, large museum of Egyptian history at the Sphinx and the pyramids in Giza.
Hundreds of thousands of treasures from one of the world's oldest civilizations will be on display there - including 20,000 objects that have never been exhibited before, according to the Reuters news agency. Some of them were found in Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. A bidding process is currently underway among international companies that want to run the museum, and by the middle of next year the government will have chosen which of them will be awarded the contract.

Rush from Sweden
The upsurge in interest in Egypt is confirmed by several major Swedish tour operators that TT has spoken to. This winter, both Apollo and Ving will fly twice as many Swedish tourists to beach paradises like Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada than they did the previous winter.
– These are the largest volumes since 2011, so a lot has happened in terms of demand. Many have longed to go back and now they feel safe again, says Clara Larsson, press officer at Apollo.

Tui sees a similar trend, although their increase has been ongoing for a couple of years. The company expects continued growth.

The Swedish Foreign Ministry advised against traveling to the beach resorts in South Sinai in 2012, but the warning was lifted early last year. However, Egypt remains a politically turbulent country, and the military-backed regime has imprisoned thousands of Islamists and silenced large parts of the secular and liberal opposition.

Source: TT