Russian tourists flock back to Egypt’s Red Sea

Russian tourists flock back to Egypt’s Red Sea

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt: Mussa Al-Nahas sat outside his fragrance and spice shop overlooking the Red Sea beaming at the sight of Russian tourists, who are beginning to flood back to Sharm el-Sheikh six years after a terror attack. “Today is much, much better than three or four months ago because the Russians are back,” he told AFP. “The return of Russian flights has spurred other countries to also open up,” he added.

Nahas, 42, has spent half of his life in the idyllic, sun-drenched Red Sea resort which was badly hit economically after the 2015 downing of a Metrojet plane that killed 224 mostly Russian passengers. The attack was claimed by the so-called Islamic State group, which has a presence in the restive North Sinai region. In the wake of the crash, Russia instituted a blanket ban on all flights to the Red Sea from 2015, and even to Cairo for a few weeks.

The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 was a double blow driving away the remaining tourists – the country’s lifeline. Tourism represents about 10 percent of the GDP of Egypt where a third of the 100 million-strong population lives below the poverty line. “We used to say