JOHANNESBURG, May 19 (ANA) - Egyptian ports in the Red Sea, South Sinai, Luxor and Aswan have started collecting entry visa fees to the country amounting to $25 (about R350) per passenger, according to Egypt Independent.
The publication reported on Wednesday that the decision followed the end of the exemption period announced by the cabinet.
According to Egypt Independent, the cabinet had approved a proposal to exempt tourists coming to the Red Sea, South Sinai, Luxor and Aswan starting from the winter tourism season of 2020 from November 1 until April 30, 2021.
However, workers of Red Sea tourism companies have urged authorities in the ministries of interior and tourism to extend the exemption period until the beginning of next winter tourism season, to boost tourism, which has been greatly harmed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, Ahram Online has reported that Egypt’s central bank has approved new facilities for the tourism sector.
According to the publication, the new facilities include raising the finance share that was introduced by banks to renew or replace hotels, marinas and tourist transport fleets to 90%, up from 75%, of the total cost of the renewable operations.
In May 2020, the Ministry of Finance launched the initiative to support the tourism and hotels sector against the impact of the pandemic.
In its latest update, Egypt has recorded 248,078 Covid-19 cases. The North African country has also reported 182,693 recoveries and 14 441 coronavirus-related deaths.
- African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher