CAIRO, Jun 1 (NNN-XINHUA) – Empty souvenir booths, dispirited tourist guides, idle camels, and only a handful of tourists.
It is hard to imagine this is what one of the world’s most famous tourist sights looks like.
The Great Pyramids of Giza, the iconic landmark of Egypt, have lost most of the visitors since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vendors complained that their business had plummeted and they are eager for an early end to the pandemic, so foreign tourists can return.
A pillar of the economy, the tourism industry accounts for 13 to 15 percent of Egypt’s GDP and directly or indirectly, contributes 12 percent of the country’s jobs.
A total of 3.5 million tourists visited Egypt in 2020, compared to 13.1 million in 2019, according to Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Khaled al-Anany.
The revenues of tourism in 2020 hit four billion U.S. dollars, said al-Anany yesterday, compared to 13.03 billion U.S. dollars in 2019.
Although Egypt has taken measures, such as flight and hotel discounts, to attract foreign tourists, the tourism industry has shown no sign of ticking up, as the ongoing pandemic has dampened many foreign tourists’ desire to travel.
