Egypt was visited by about 100 thousand Russian tourists in 2017

“About 100 thousand Russians visited Egypt in 2017 despite the absence of direct communication between the two countries”, - said the Deputy Head of the Union of Tourist Chambers of Egypt Mostafa Khelil. "According to statistics for September 2017, 70,000 Russian tourists arrived in Egypt in spite of the absence of direct flights. It is expected that by the end of the year the number of Russians visiting the country will be 100,000", - said Mr. Khelil. According to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, in the first nine months of 2017 the country’s tourism revenues grew by 205% in comparison with the same period of 2016 and amounted $ 5.2 billion, the number of tourists increased by 53%. Thus, the tourism sector of Egypt approached the indicators before the crisis, which was connected with the accident of the Russian aircraft. According to the Ministry of Tourism of the country, before the catastrophe of the Russian aircraft in late October 2015 the tourism industry gave the country 11.3% of GDP. Russia was the leader on the incoming market of Egypt.