The ministry broke 2020's tourism into three phases. Pre-COVID, January 1 to March 16, received around 2 million tourists
Despite the COVID-19 crisis and its effects on global tourism, Egypt received about 1 million tourists through the July – November period during the resumption of inbound tourism according to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
They also note that this year’s tourism movement can be divided into three distinct phases.
Pre-COVID which began in January 1 and ended March 16, Egypt received around 2 million tourists at this time.
The period between March 1 and March 16, when travel was suspended due to the virus, is considered the second phase. Despite closure of most international airports and the global spread of the virus, Egypt’s tourism numbers were around 398,300 tourists.
The third phase is broken into two parts; the resumption of domestic tourism on May 15 and the resumption of international tourism on July 1st.
During the second phase, the ministry coordinated with several parties to return foreign tourists stranded in Egypt, and bring home the Egyptians stranded abroad. At the time, the ministry formed a crisis and risk management committee, launched a hotline for workers in the tourism sector, and activated an English complaint service to provide support for tourist inquiries.
To ensure tourists’ safety, the ministry launched a campaign to sterilize and disinfect all hotels, tourism facilities, museums, and archaeological sites as well as a mandatory certificate for health and safety standards. Hotels and resorts were unable to reopen without the certificate.
The certificate verified that the hotel or resort met all health and safety requirements defined by the Egyptian government the World Health Organization (WHO).
In June, Egypt received the Safe Travels stamp from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).
Domestic tourism resumed for 78 hotels that obtained the health and safety certificate, working at 25% capacity, in mid-May. Domestic tourism played an important role during the decline in international tourism, providing some liquidity to the tourism sector and supporting local tourism workers, noted the ministry.
Since then, 695 hotels, including 52 floating hotels, have obtained the certificate in 23 governorates, increasing capacity to 50 percent.
As part of the government’s efforts to curb the virus, Egypt suspended all international flights on March 19.
Inbound flights resumed on July 1st to three governorates as part of the first phase of resuming tourism activity. The governorates were the Red Sea, South Sinai, and Matrouh. Tourism activities to Luxor and Aswan resumed in early September, while floating hotels were allowed to resume on October 1st.
