Egypt sees tourism revenues at $ 9 b; down 30%

Reuters: Egypt expects to earn about $ 9 billion from tourism in 2011, down about third on a year earlier after many visitors were deterred by an uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in February and unrest that followed, a senior official said on Tuesday.

“We expect around 30 to 35 per cent less revenue than last year which means it is going to be around $ 3.5 billion to $ 4 billion less, so we are speaking about a figure around $9 billion,”  Hisham Zaazou, Senior Assistant to the Tourism Minister, told Reuters.

He put 2010 revenues at $ 12.5 billion.