Tourism revenues down 66.7% y-o-y in 1Q2016… Tourism revenues hit just over USD 500 mn down from USD 1.5 bn a year earlier, economic adviser to the Tourism Ministry Adla Ragab told Reuters, with just 1.2 mn tourists coming to Egypt in the same quarter, down from 2.2 mn a year earlier. While tourism revenues had taken a hit since the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, it was the Metrojet crash last October that dealt the final blow to the industry after Russia halted flights to Egypt and several other nations cut off flights to Sharm El Sheikh. Egypt is looking to bring in 12 mn tourists by the end of 2017 “through a plan that includes increasing the presence of national carrier EgyptAir abroad,” tourism minister Yehia Rashed said in a recent interview with Reuters.

…and there’s no light at the end of the tunnel: Russian President Vladimir Putin believes Egyptian authorities still have “a lot to do” to secure Russian tourists in the country, he said on Monday at a meeting of the All-Russia People’s Front, according to Sputnik. “For resuming flights to Egypt, there is a need to find the way of checking passengers, luggage and food onboard jointly with the country’s authorities to ensure security of Russians,” TASS reported Putin as saying on 14 April.