CAIRO: Egypt's Tourism Minister Mounir Fakhry Abdel Noor said that tourism is on the return in the country after it floundered following the 18 days of protests that ousted the former government in February. He made the comments while welcoming international election monitors to the country in preparation for the next parliamentary elections, tentatively scheduled for November 7. “Tourism is getting better in Egypt after the Egyptian January 25 Revolution, especially in Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada. The political movements declined by 20 percent in August in comparison to last year,” Abdel Noor said in a press conference held in Savoy Hotel Sharm el-Sheikh. He added it is top priority to return confidence in Egypt and “secure it in the foreign market, especially since there haven't been any accidents against any tourists.” He continued to say that he expected Egyptian tourism “to reach its normal level by implementing the long activation plan until 2020.” According to him, the country's income from tourism will reach $10 billion this year, although he did not provide any substantial evidence for the claims. He attempted to push aside worries that if Islamists took over the country, tourism would suffer dramatically. “If Islamic groups ruled Egypt, tourism won't be affected because there aren't any alternatives to the tourism in the Egyptian income,” he said during his speech. According to him, Russian tourism in Egypt increased more than 20 percent last August and Ukrainian increased 30 percent. Abdel Noor said there were more than 12 agreements of mutual cooperation between Egypt and Turkey when Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan visited Egypt. He assured there are intentions to change Sharm el-Sheikh into a environmentally friendly green city, 400 hotels and resorts joined the plan so far. According to tourism observers, Egypt has suffered massive losses in recent months as a result of the political unrest in the country. BM
