Egyptian girls pose in Pharaoh costumes in front of the Giza Pyramids on the southwestern outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo, on December 18. Photo: AFP

Egypt's tourism sector is eying a gradual recovery after revenues plunged by nearly 70 percent to $4 billion in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the tourism minister and travel companies said.

The number of tourists visiting Egypt sank to 3.5 million last year from 13.1 million in 2019, Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany told Reuters. Foreign occupancy rates in Egyptian hotels dropped to just 10-15 percent of 2019 levels.

Tourism accounts for up to 15 percent of Egypt's national output, and is a key source of foreign currency.

Officials have been unveiling new archaeological discoveries in an effort to revive visitor numbers, and hope the delayed opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum next to the pyramids, expected later this year, will help the sector ­recover. "The goal right now is not to count the number of tourists but to have it be said that Egypt is a safe tourist destination during the coronavirus pandemic," said Enany.

Egypt plans to start ­COVID-19 vaccinations this month after approving China's Sinopharm vaccine, but it was unclear how quickly the program could be rolled out.

"In 2021, with the vaccine, the recovery will be incremental," said Mohamed Farouq, chief executive of travel agency Egypt Express. "It will be slow... until this virus is totally controlled."