The number of airline travelers entering Egypt dropped by 20.6 percent, from 465,270 tourists in November 2000 to 370,000 tourists in 2001, reported MENA.
During the same period, the number of vessels passing through the Suez Canal decreased by 8.8 percent with a six percent drop in revenues from $160 million to $150 million. Egyptian official attributed these losses to the September 11 attacks on the United States.
The Egyptian government recently adopted several measures to support the country’s ailing tourism sector, adversely affected by global tourism slowdown. These include banking facilities granted to tourism investment companies and a grace period offered to the owners of the tourist projects to repay their debts. — (menareport.com)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
