Egypt remounding May 2012

03 May 2012

Tourism rebounding in Egypt

Egypt's tourism minister says he expects the number of tourists to rebound this year to pre-revolution levels of 14.5 million. That follows a slump in 2011 after the dramatic uprising that forced out President Hosni Mubarak and brought much of Egypt's economy to a halt.
There were already signs of improvement with tourist arrivals rising 40 percent in the first four months of this year from a year earlier, Mounir Fakhry AbdelNour told Reuters.
Tourism used to account for more than a tenth of Egypt's gross domestic product (GDP) before the uprising. Tourism "employs an estimated one in eight workers in a country where anger over high unemployment triggered the uprisings," Reuters said.
"My aim for this year is to see the number of tourists to Egypt this year rise to 2010 levels," AbdelNour told reporters during a press conference.
He said the growth in tourism numbers this year will be driven by new products such as the reopening of the Nile cruise from Cairo to Aswan.
In 2010, around 14.7 million tourists visited Egypt generating around $12.5 billion, but their numbers slumped to 9.8 million visitors in 2011 generating $8.8 billion, said AbdelNour.
By David Wilkening

Nile Delta at Night As Seen From Orbit | SpaceRef - Your Space Reference

Alexandria, Cairo at night from Space/Orbit
View map of Nile Delta at night as seen from Orbit. Click link below.

Nile Delta at Night As Seen From Orbit | SpaceRef - Your Space Reference

Nile Delta at Night As Seen From Orbit
Source: NASA HQPosted Friday, October 29, 2010


From 220 miles above Earth, one of the Expedition 25 crew members on the International Space Station took this night time photo featuring the bright lights of Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt on the Mediterranean coast. The Nile River and its delta stand out clearly as well. On the horizon, the airglow of the atmosphere is seen across the Mediterranean. The Sinai Peninsula, at right, is outlined with lights highlighting the Gulf of Suez and Gulf of Aqaba. high res (2.2 M) low res (79 K)