Egypt invites Indians to see the pyramids again

With the political situation under control,Egypt tries to revive tourism,woos Indians.

With one of its main sources of revenue,tourism,severely hit due to recent political unrest,Egypt on Friday said it was making all efforts to revive the sector,noting that 24 countries have withdrawn the ban on travel to that country.

Inviting tourists to his country,Director of Egypt Tourism Office in India Adel El Masry said,”Several countries like Finland,Italy,the Netherlands,Ukraine,Spain,Austria and many more have withdrwan their travel ban.”

While 87,000 Indians had visited Egypt in 2009,the number had risen to 1,14000 in 2010.

In 2010,nearly $11 billion in revenue,which is about 11 per cent of the total Gross Domestic Product of Egypt,was generated when 14.7 million tourists had visited Egypt,reflecting the critical role tourism plays in the Egyptian economy.

“Tourism in Egypt is coming back to stability after a long political democratic movement. We are receiving immense support from several nations which have partnered with us to improve the situation by lifting travel advisories against visit to Egypt,” Masry said.

Last month,Egypt’s tourism sector suffered a loss of $1.5 billion due to the situation in that country which witnessed violent protests leading to the ouster of Hosni Mubarak as President.