CAIRO, May 25 (Xinhua): The number of tourists who visited Egypt in April was down by 21 per cent comparing to the same month a year earlier, the tourism ministry said in a statement cited by state-run Al-Ahram website on Saturday.
The ministry said only 859,889 tourists visited Egypt in April, adding more than 1.11 million tourists visited the country in April 2013.
Tourism officials are hoping the presidential election to be held on Monday and Tuesday would boost stability to revive the country's flagging tourism sector after years of political and security woes.
Tourism is a key source for employment and hard currencies in Egypt, a country of 85 million people, and before the January 2011 uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak, tourism accounted for 11 per cent of Egypt's gross domestic product.
In a bid to revive this vital sector, the tourism ministry has floated a global initiative that would emphasise Egypt is safe and fun to be visited.
The ministry is seeking to lure more tourists from the Arab world as European visitors, who are Egypt's traditional visitors, are not expected to return to Egypt with the same rates prior to the 2011 uprising.
Tourists to Egypt down by 21pc in Apr on year
FE Team | Published: May 26, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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