Egyptian tourism drops by 35.4%

16 September 2011 11:57

Tourist arrivals in Egypt fell by 35.4% in the second quarter

Tourist arrivals in Egypt fell by 35.4% in the second quarter

Egypt's economy suffered a major blow as the vital tourism industry witnessed a fall in number of visitors to the country up to the end of June.

The number of tourists visiting Egypt during the second quarter of this year was down to 2.2 million compared to the 3.5 million during the same period in 2010.

According to the official MENA news agency, tourism in the country has been negatively affected by the recent political upheaval causing the arrival of tourists to fall by 35.4% in the second quarter.

The country, which is famous for its heritage sites and pristine beach resorts, has been struggling to revive tourism, as the industry is a key money earner and source of foreign currency for Egypt.

MENA said: "The Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics attributed the decline to the current developments in Egypt after the January 25 revolution."

The revolution, which ousted president Hosni Mubarak, has caused Egypt to lose £13.5 billion (2.27 billion dollars) in tourism revenues in the three months since the uprising.

Tourists planning to go on a holiday to Egypt may find it useful to have an adequate travel insurance to be covered for any eventualities.

Around 15 million tourists visited the county last year.

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