Tourists make cautious return to Egypt

Hisham Zaazou, the Egyptian Tourism Minister, announced a 17 per cent increase in 2012 tourists and 13 per cent rise in tourism income yesterday when compared to 2011.

He did not give exact figures but the percentage rises suggest 11.5 million tourists came in 2012 and generated £6.2 billion ($9.9 billion), according to a Reuters calculation. In 2011 the country attracted 9.8 million tourists and brought in £5.5 billion ($8.8 billion).

However, the current figures represent a 22 percent decrease in visitors and 25 per cent less revenue than in 2010, and fall short of the 20 per cent increase in visitors predicted by the minister at the end of last year.

The country saw a substantial dip in visitor figures following the political uprising of January 2011 that led to the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.
Tourism accounted for an estimated 11 per cent of Egypt’s economy prior to the Arab Spring.