EGYPT'S tourism industry has grown steadily in 2010 with a 15 per cent increase in revenues up until the end of November compared to last year's $10.78 billion worth of profits, according to Ministry of Tourism spokeswoman Omaima El-Husseini. The fact that tourism is actually flourishing challenges the effects of the global economic recession, which dropped Egypt's tourism revenues in 2009 by a mere 2.1 per cent despite speculations of a possible 20 per cent decrease, El-Husseini told Al-Ahram Weekly. However, Travco hotel group regional internal auditor Ezzat Abdel-Ghaffar said his company's sales dropped by almost 30 per cent as a result of the recession. He added that sales started to increase in mid-2010, but that they have still not achieved pre-crisis levels. The number of tourists who visited Egypt from January to November this year, according to El-Husseini, reached 13.5 million, with a 17.4 per cent increase compared to 2009. Despite signs of fast recovery from the repercussions of the recession, the tourism industry was shocked by the Eurozone crisis. But even this did not affect the flow of tourists, said Khaled El-Menawy, head of the Egyptian Travel Agents Association. El-Menawy believes many Europeans consider travelling a basic need, and that they will organise holiday trips despite any income declines. That is the reason why the number of tourists visiting the country was not affected. He added that non-European markets have helped mitigate the effects of the euro downturn on the tourism industry. At around three million, Russian tourists alone, says El-Menawy, represent 17 per cent of the total number of tourists visiting Egypt. Accounting for more than 12 per cent of jobs, the tourism industry in Egypt employs roughly three million people. "There is an obvious decline in European tourists' expenditure levels," El-Menawy told the Weekly, adding that if it weren't for the euro crisis, revenues would have increased enormously. European visitors are estimated at 70 per cent of all tourists, and El-Menawy predicts the number of tourists will total 14.5 million by the end of 2010. Moreover, shark attacks in Sharm El-Sheikh -- the first in five years -- raised concerns over whether there would be any negative effects on the tourism industry, but experts say there were hardly any. "No reservations were cancelled following the shark attacks," said Abdel-Ghaffar. "Tourists have a variety of places and beaches to visit, and I believe that the quick actions that the authorities took to contain the situation and keep Sharm El-Sheikh's shores safe were vital to sustain sales stability." El-Menawy says that the continuing development and creation of new tourist destinations such as the North Coast near Alexandria is the main reason behind the growing number of tourists. The Ministry of Tourism has announced a long-term strategy to attract 25 million tourists by the year 2015.
