Egypt has seen the biggest growth in Airbnb guest arrivals that anywhere in Africa in the 2017/18 season, according to data by the company picked up by IT News Africa. Arrivals to Egypt increased 134% y-o-y, far outpacing Reunion (84%), Kenya (69%) and South Africa (60%). By city, both Hurghada and El Gouna topped the list, seeing Airbnb guest arrivals growing 220% and 215% respectively.

Still not convinced, UK? Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathy chalks the continued UK travel restrictions on Sharm El Sheikh down to bad publicity and misconceptions rather than facts on the ground. “Some Egyptian airports were perceived as not safe enough, but Egypt scored a high point when IATA audited Egyptian airports,” he tells AIN in an interview. “It is more of bad publicity than the facts on the ground. We have got many delegates who come to see the security procedures at our airports and they have seen that we are good enough and meet all the international security standards.” UK restrictions on Sharm persist despite nearly all major Western markets lifting theirs.