Tourism revenues dropped during December 2015 by 52 percent compared to that of January 2015, Youm7 quoted Adla Ragab, the economic advisor for Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou.
Ragad told Youm7 Wendesday that the size of revenues reached $175 million in December, in a significant fall after it recorded $500 million in January of the same year.
Ragab attributed the reason behind the recession to the crash of a Russian plane departing Sharm el-Sheikh in October, killing all 224 on board, which resulted in many European countries suspending their flights to Egypt’s famous resort city.
She said that the monthly rate of revenues ranges between $400 and $700 million, noting that the total tourism revenues in 2015 reached $6.1 billion, a 15.1 percent decrease compared to 2014.
Ragab has previously stated that the number of Russian tourists visiting Egypt in 2015 dropped by 23.9 percent compared to previous year.
The crash has had a negative impact on the flow of tourists into Egypt, especially after speculation supported by western intelligence indicating a bomb was behind the crash.
However, thousands of tourists reportedly continue to arrive in Sharm el-Sheikh Airport. On Thursday, some 1,134 tourists of different nationalities arrived at the airport.
Egypt has launched a number of promotional campaigns to court tourists to the city by providing holiday packages with reduced prices.
