While Cairenes prepare to head to Sahel, Gouna, Sokhna and other holiday spots primed for the kind of seaside shenanigans we wait all winter for, it seems that Hurghada will be having an equally busy summer.

According to the Manchester Evening News, Travel agent Thomas Cook has has announced that summer bookings to Egypt as a whole have increased by a whopping 109%, with Hurghada being particularly popular.

While Thomas Cook also pointed out that numbers are still low compared to the peak of Egypt's popularity as a summer holiday destination, CEO Peter Fankhauser suggested that summer travel would increase worldwide, adding that, “After a slow start to the season and a tough year in 2016, we’re seeing early signs that customers are beginning to go back to Turkey and Egypt.” 

If this is indeed the case, it could turn the tide for Egypt's ailing tourism sector. Things have been rather rough since the uprising of January 2011 and were made worse in 2015, when a Russian airliner crashed in Sinai after taking of from Sharm El Sheikh.
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By Kalam El Qahaira