The Department of Tourism of the Egyptian diplomatic mission reported that the country's cabinet of ministers has already adopted a decree prescribing an increase in the cost of a tourist visa to $25, which can be obtained at the airport upon arrival in the country.
As stated by the head of the information center of the Egyptian Embassy in the Russian Federation, Ezeddin Shahin, Russian tourists already have the opportunity to obtain a visa on the territory of their country at Egyptian consular offices. The cost of this service is 750 rubles, at the current exchange rate about $25. Meanwhile, at Egyptian airports, tourists can obtain a visa for $15, but only until November 1, 2013.
The Egyptian government explained the decision to increase the visa fee by a desire to unify the issuance of entry permits both at the country's border and abroad.
As reported by tourism news, Egypt is one of the most popular resorts among Russian tourists. According to statistics, Russians were the most numerous foreigners who vacationed in Egypt during the first quarter of this year. Over the three months, more than 490,000 Russian tourists visited the country, which is 43.20% more than in the same period last year.
Recall that in April of this year, many media outlets published information that the Egyptian authorities canceled the visa fee for tourists from Russia for the period from May 1 to August 31 of this year. The authorities explained this decision with the aim of increasing tourist flow.
Tour operators and market experts reacted positively to this information. However, according to some experts, it is unlikely to significantly increase the influx of Russian tourists. The decline in Egypt's attractiveness is due to other reasons, among which experts cite the unstable political situation as the main one.
In this light, the increase in the entry fee may negatively affect the growth of tourist flow from Russia. It is worth noting that last year, due to the revolution that took place in the country, the flow of tourists decreased by more than 30%, which for a country that receives most of its income from the tourism sector turned out to be tantamount to a disaster.
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