Oct 08, 2015 Still recovering from years of political unrest and militant violence, the Egypt’s tourism industry is gearing up to post moderate growth this year. According to Hisham Zaazou, the country’s Tourism Minister, Egypt hosted 9.9 million tourists in 2014. He went on to point out that it was a far cry from the 14.7 million that visited in 2010.
Although President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has restored some stability in the country, it apparently isn’t enough to persuade foreigners that it is safe to return.
During an interview, Minister Zaazou said:
“I cannot say that the general climate is positive, but the figures show that there is a modest improvement. There’s a modest improvement in the numbers and revenues, but generally Egyptian tourism is suffering and I have to review the issue again and see what I can do,”
Tourism stands as a major revenue source for Egypt as foreign investments has dropped drastically following the increased level of insecurity. However officials say that the government is making great progress in the battle against militants and also accused Western media of exaggerating security threats.
“The focus has been on such negative news, such as the accidental killing Mexican tourists recently, the assassination of the general prosecutor, the explosion at the Italian consulate, that’s what’s being focused on, even though we are sitting here in Cairo, not talking about the rest of Egypt, and we are going to our work and dealing with the situation as if it is completely stable but this picture is not portrayed abroad,”
Egyptian tourism has survived big setbacks in the past and the minister is optimistic that his country will regain its popularity among tourists.