The Egyptian Junior Business Association (EJB) has uncovered that Egypt has seen a substantial number of tourist arrivals in the recent period, despite the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, with almost 300,000 visitors checking in the country since July, Invest-Gate reports.

The country’s daily tourist receipts stood at about 6,000 visitors until the end of August. However, figures dropped 60% (2,400 tourists) once the Egyptian government made the PCR test compulsory for travelers, President of the Tourism and Aviation Committee at EJB Mohamed Kaoud, state-run Al-Ahram reports.

At present, these numbers started to rise again to over 3,000 tourists a day, Kaoud further revealed, highlighting that Egypt witnessed a 26% increase in searches for domestic tourism during summer 2020.

Searches for domestic flights also went up by 53%, as more Egyptians seek to travel within the country given international travel problems in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, he added.

According to the executive, the tourism sector is significant for the Egyptian economy, owing to the strategic and economic importance of both outbound and inbound travel, not to mention the critical market conditions for businesses due to the outbreak.

Kaoud explained that tourism constituted 10% of the average total income of the world’s economies prior to the health crisis, Meanwhile, the sector represented 18%, 16%, 11.9%, and 3.5% of Spain, France, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia’s income, respectively.

For the current fiscal year, Egypt’s tourism revenues are set to reach USD 11 bn (EGP 178 bn), instead of the earlier expected USD 16 bn (EGP 258.9 bn), amid the Coronavirus-induced slump, Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El Saeed confirmed in mid-April.