A record number of tourists visited Egypt last month, Tourism Minister Mamduh Al-Beltagi disclosed earlier this week, concluding that Egyptian tourism has recovered from the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
An estimated 574,000 visitors flew in during the month of August 2002, an "unprecedented [monthly figure] in the history of Egyptian tourism," Al-Beltagi stated in press release. The number of tourist arrivals in August 2002 was 15 percent higher than in August 2001 and 11.4 percent higher than in August 2000, he added.
Italians were the largest national group to arrive in Egypt last month, with around 100, 000 visitors. Meanwhile, arrivals from Arab countries stood at 165,629 in August, a 26 percent increase from the year before, said Beltagi.
The Union of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce had estimated that the September 11 attacks on the United States had cost Egypt around one billion dollars in lost revenue, mainly from a drop in tourism. The figure is much lower than previously released estimates that ranged from $2.4 to four billion dollars in lost revenue. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
