Chairman of the Red Sea Tourism Investment Association Kamel Abu-Ali said on Friday that Russian tourism will resume within weeks, estimating that 200,000 to 300,000 Russian tourists visit Egypt per month.
In statements to Al-Masry Al-Youm, Abu-Ali noted that that these numbers will return, predicting that the visits will start with numbers approaching 150,000 tourists.
He added that the price of flights from Russia will be determined by demand, expecting that hotel prices will rise well above the minimum set by Egypt’s Tourism Ministry in light of the high demand.
Abu-Ali added that the Ministry of Tourism’s decision to raise hotels’ capacity from 50 to 70 percent is in the interest of the tourism sector. He pointed out that the decision will not negatively affect the COVID-19 precautionary measures that are applied in hotels.
He called for the need to start advertising and promoting Egyptian destinations in Russia immediately.
Moataz Sedky, Vice President of the Tourism Committee at the American Egyptian Chamber of Commerce, expected that the first Russian flights to Egypt would start in mid-August.
Sedky added that the volume of traffic is expected to hit about 50 percent of numbers reported in 2015.
Quarantine officials in the Red Sea confirmed that all health and precautionary measures will continue to be applied to all tourists, as they are required to bring a negative test of coronavirus 72 hours before arrival.
As for those who have been vaccinated with the Sputnik V vaccine, they do not need a negative PCR test certificate, they only need a certificate confirming that two doses of the vaccine have been received.
President Vladimir Putin ended Russia’s six-year ban on charter flights to Egypt on Thursday.
The flights were suspended after a Metrojet plane carrying Russian tourists crashed over the Sinai Peninsula in October 2015, killing 224 people.
The resumption of Russian charter flights will guarantee increased traffic in Egypt’s Red Sea resort towns of Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
