Tourism to Egypt, dropping 24 % during Q3 of 2011

In light of the deteriorating security situation in Egypt over the past months, tourism to Egypt has dropped by 24% during Q3 of 2011, especially from Western Europeans, to reach 2.8 million tourists, a little below the same rate uif compared to the same period in 2010. According to the latest data report from Egypt''s official statistics body on Wednesday tourism has been hit hard with the consecutive waves of unrest that Egypt has been witnessing since a popular uprising that started on 25 January deposed president Hosni Mubarak. The largest drop in visits to Egypt was seen in Western European tourists, whose number dropped by a third in July-September 2011 below the same period last year. They were followed by Middle Eastern tourists whose number dropped 22%. Despite this drop, Western and Eastern Europe tourists still were the majority during the quarter, making up 75% of total visits. Middle Eastern tourists came in third with 17% of total tourist visits. Egypt''s Tourism Minister Mounir Fakhry Abdel-Nour forecasted in early December that Egypt will see a total of 10.5 million tourist visits by the end of 2011, bringing in a total $9.5 billion in revenue. The tourism industry is traditionally one of Egypt''s largest foreign currency earners, generating $12.5 billion last year. The country saw 14.8 million tourists in 2010, which generated around 12.5% of Egypt''s GDP, according to Abdel-Nour in a recent TV interview. Abdel-Nour specified that Egypt had already seen 9 million tourists in the year by the end of November and that it will host a further 1.5 million in December, with Christmas and the New Year traditionally being one of the busiest seasons.(QNA) MD