Egypt's tourism revenues rise 170 percent in first seven months of 2017: official

CAIRO - Egypt’s tourism revenues jumped by 170 percent in the first seven months of 2017, reaching $3.5 billion, a government official told Reuters.

The number of tourists visiting Egypt rose by 54 percent, reaching 4.3 million in the first seven months of the year, he said.

The government official, who preferred not to be named, said Egypt hoped the number of tourists would reach 8 million this year, compared with 4.5 million in 2016.

He expected revenues to reach $6 billion in 2017, compared with $3.4 billion the previous year, despite Russia’s flight ban. Russia banned flights to Egypt in 2015 after an aircraft crashed in the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 passengers on board.