Tourism companies, hotels and private airlines are up for another six-month holiday on their debt, tax, and utilities holiday until this October. Cabinet’s Tourism and Antiquities Committee signed off on the proposal ahead of taking it to the Council of Ministers for a final decision, according to a statement yesterday. The stimulus measure, first introduced in April 2020 to prop up the tourism and aviation industries through the pandemic, was originally set to expire last October before being extended until the end of 2020 and then until the end of this coming April as the pandemic continued to batter the tourism industry.

The sector has been getting back on its feet: Nearly 2 mn tourists visited Egypt since the lifting of internal border controls to allow commercial flights in July, Tourism Minister Khaled El Anany has said. El Anany previously said Egypt could see a return to pre-covid visitor numbers as early as fall 2022.