Tourism earnings estimated at $ 431 m in January

• Remittances grow 6.5% year-on-year to $ 581 m

Earnings from tourism were provisionally estimated at $ 431 million in January 2020, in comparison to $ 460 million in January 2019, the Central Bank said yesterday.

The tourism sector suffered a setback in January 2020 following the outbreak of COVID-19, reversing the recovering trend of the tourist arrivals since the Easter Sunday attacks. Tourist arrivals in January 2020 declined by 6.5% to 228,434 compared to 244,239 in January 2019.

Tourist arrivals from Russia, Poland and Ukraine increased in January 2020 (year-on-year), while arrivals from key destinations, such as Australia, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and China, declined.

Meanwhile, workers’ remittances recorded a growth of 6.5% in January 2020, year-on-year, amounting to $ 581 million.

Although the tourism industry rapidly recovered from the Easter Sunday attacks by end 2019, the COVID-19 outbreak reversed the recovering trend in January 2020. Workers’ remittances recorded a year-on-year growth in January 2020, the Central Bank observed in its report.