Egypt Tourism Sector: Revenue jumps 83.3% in first quarter of 2018 to $2.2 billion

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Egypt's tourism revenues jumped 83 percent in the first quarter of 2018, reaching 2.2 billion US dollars. And the number of visitors to Egypt during that period was over two million people. CGTN's Yasser Hakim looks at how the industry - a vital source of hard currency for Egypt - has been performing in the past few years.

The numbers are encouraging. The tourism industry had been suffering from the security and political fallout since the 2011 uprising. Incoming tourism had dropped by 80% throughout 2013. Hesham Idris owns Al Wady tourism company. He is one of many who took the hit in the last seven years.

HESHAM IDRIS OWNER, AL WADI TOURISM COMPANY "If we lower costs, it would also mean reduction of jobs, the number of full-time employee will therefore drop approximately 97,000 to below 90,000 by the end of next year. We do take such decisions lightly but job cuts are inevitable, our bank becomes profitable."

It got even worse after a Russian passenger plane went down on Sinai in 2015. It led to a flight ban from Egypt's biggest client Russia. Tens of hotels and companies had to close down. It was a huge loss to the overall economy since tourism is a main source of hard currency revenue for the state budget.

YASSER HAKIM CAIRO, EGYPT "In 2016, the Egyptian president embarked on a successful crackdown on terrorism, a security overhaul in airports and tourist cities as well as a set of economic reforms. It had positive effects on this industry."

The inflow of tourism has been increasing rapidly for the last year. The government announced an 83% rise in tourism inflow and revenue in the first quarter of 2018. And tourists are coming from new markets like China.

HESHAM IDRIS OWNER, AL WADI TOURISM COMPANY "Despite the criticism of our results, we should not overlook one thing. In that respect, we've made a lot of progress."

Now the Russian flight ban has been lifted opening the door for a return of the all important Russian visitors. The future looks bright again. Yasser Hakim CGTN Cairo.