On the sandy beaches of Sharm el-Sheikh, many sun loungers are empty. On a central promenade lined with shops, cafes and nightclubs, the crowd is more sparse than usual.
The hotel at the southern tip of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula is recovering from the war in Ukraine, which has noticed Ukrainians and Russians, in the past among the city’s most sensible visitors, virtually disappearing, according to tourism workers.
Its absence is the latest in a series of shocks in a sector that accounts for up to 15% of gross domestic product and generates much-needed foreign exchange.
“Months ago, we were catching our breath after the coronavirus hit and activity started to increase, but we came out of the pan in the fire,” said the owner of a small gift shop at Naama’s main prom in Sharm el. Sheikh. Bay, whose call Ashraf, and added that he had lost about two-thirds of his business.
Egyptian tourism revenues have fallen sharply from the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching just about $12 billion in 2021, according to central bank data.
Dominance gained new momentum when Russia resumed direct flights to Red Sea resort Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada in August 2021, six years after the crash of a passenger plane carrying Russian tourists caused its suspension.
While no updated information is available for this year, a cabinet briefing last month warned of a blow to tourism’s foreign exchange earnings.
The government, which is also grappling with new wheat and oil import bills, recently revised its expansion forecast for the year ending this month to 5. 5 cents and for 2022-23 to 4. 5 cents.
Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism responded to requests for comment.
SIGNS IN RUSSIAN
In Sharm el-Sheikh, which will host the COP27 climate convention in November, symptoms are written in Russian and English, and some of the hotel’s employees are trained in either language.
This is an indication of the importance of the market: Russians and Ukrainians accounted for 31% of the number of tourists in Egypt last year, according to the government, and many of them came on tour packages to Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada.
In the last six months of last year, more than 1. 1 million Russians and some 794,000 Ukrainians visited Egypt, according to the data.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian visits to Sharm el-Sheikh have dropped to a fraction of their previous levels, two tour operators and two city guides said. Almost all of the 20,000 Ukrainians from Egyptian resorts at the beginning of the war were evacuated. through the plane.
“We lost about 70 percent of the profession after the war,” said the manager of a giant hotel who declined to be identified because he was not allowed to speak to the media.
“There is a slight increase in the numbers of Armenia and Romania, but none of those numbers can compare with those of Ukraine and Russia before the war. “
Only 1,500 to 2,000 Russians arrive each week, said Adel Hosny, head of South Sinai contracts for Russian tour operator Pegas Touristik.
Demand has plummeted as Western sanctions have times and prices higher since Russia by forcing carriers to replace routes, and MasterCard and Visa credit cards issued in Russia have stopped working overseas.
Daily flights will resume from Russia in early July.
CLOSE THE GAP?
Spending through Russians still arriving in Sharm el-Sheikh had declined because they had been limited to dollars, said Ahmed Akrab, a tour guide.
The advent of Mir, a Russian payment formula created after an earlier Western sanctions circular in 2015, which Egyptian media say is in the works, may inspire an uptick, he said.
Egypt has also been pushing to attract more tourists from Western Europe and the Gulf through advertising campaigns since the start of the Ukrainian war, and neighboring Israel recently introduced direct flights to Sharm el-Sheikh after reducing its security precaution for southern Sinai.
But while tourism from Western Europe and other markets is seasonal, with fewer visitors during the summer months, Russians and Ukrainians come here for cheap beach vacations year-round, said Hosny, who, like other tourism workers, was not optimistic. void left in the market.
“It is very unlikely that a market will update the Russian and Ukrainian markets in the near future,” he said, adding that about 90 percent of his staff were idle.