Egypt trying to revive tourism sector, woos Indian tourists

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 USD 11 billion in revenue, which is about 11 percent of the total Gross Domestic Product of Egypt, was generated when 14.7 million tourists had visited Egypt, reflecting the critical role the tourism industry plays in 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 USD 1.5 billion due to the situation in that country which witnessed violent protests leading to the ouster of Hosni Mubarak as President.