DUBAI: Egypt is optimistic about welcoming more visitors this year with numbers increasing steadily since January to around half a million tourists a month, Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany told Reuters.

Tourism revenue, an important source of foreign currency for Egypt, plunged by 70% in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Tourism usually accounts for up to 15% of the country’s gross domestic product. Monthly tourism revenues stood at about $500,000, half of what they were before the pandemic. But Egypt hopes for a recovery by the end of the year when it aims to have vaccinated tourism staff in resorts along the Red Sea and name the area a Covid-free destination, Enany said. “More than 65% of (tourists) are coming to the Red Sea and South Sinai governorates because they are open air spaces and (there are) water activities. It is exactly what the tourist is seeking after Covid,” the minister told Reuters in an interview.