Several tourism experts have estimated the size of losses for tourism companies, hotels, resorts, diving centers and all other tourism-related activities in the Red Sea at about nine billion dollars over nine months since the pandemic began.
The sector lost about 400,000 tourists a month, they added, who would have spent about four million tourist nights per month at an average rate of 10 nights per tourist in the Red Sea’s resorts.
Various hotels, companies, restaurants, bazaars and cafes have ceased operations since the virus outbreak, causing about 400,000 workers to lose their jobs, in addition to the thousands who worked in tourism services.
The owner of a tourism company in the Red Sea Magdy al-Qady confirmed that foreign tourism had achieved an annual income of US$12 billion, but the pandemic is now causing a loss of a billion dollars per month.
Qady added that the tourism sector has suffered great losses far beyond any previous crisis, despite the efforts of the state to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.
He called on the Ministry of Tourism to coordinate with the chambers of tourism to issue an exceptional decision and use funds affiliated with the tourism chambers to help with paying tourism worker salaries.
According to the head of the Tourist Guides Syndicate in the Red Sea Bashar Abu Talib the coronavirus has put thousands of guides out of work.
And the head of a travel association Atef Abdellatif warned that the sector will continue losing workers and negatively impact Egypt’s tourism sector in the future.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
