Egyptian Tourism Minister Mounir Fakhri Abdel Nour said on Wednesday that his ministry would adopt non-traditional methods to compensate for a loss of tourists after the 25 January revolution.
Abdel Nour told reporters on Wednesday that the ministry would focus on alternative types of tourism, such as safaris and therapeutic trips, as well as developing new tourist destinations like Tel al-Amarna in Minya and other places.
He said the ministry would consider developing services that could attract tourists, such as air chartering. It would also try to attract more tourism on the Nile River.
Tourism in Egypt fell by 80 percent in February, compared with the year before. By April, the drop on the previous year's figures was 35 percent.
Abdel Nour also stressed the necessity of supporting the tourism sector, which contributes 11.5 percent to Egypt's national product. It is also considered the main source for foreign currency in Egypt.
Egypt at one point had almost 15 million foreign tourists visiting each year, bringing in around US$13 billion, the minister said.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
