Samy Mahmoud, chief of international tourism sector in Egypt Tourism Authority, expected the return of the coming international tourism to its normal rates in q2 of 2012. This is due to the presidential elections and the security stability. And the number of tourism will reach 12.5 million tourists in 2012. Mahmoud said the authority will set a plan for reactivating tourism during the fiscal year 2012/2013; as it exerts efforts through its tourism offices abroad, the tours organizers, and encouraging flights to Luxor, Aswan, Sharm Al Sheikh and Taba as well as participating in international tourism conferences. He added that the authority works on attracting the Arab tourism to Egypt during summer by holding festivals and celebrations in Egyptian tourism cities such like Cairo, Sharm Al Sheikh, Hurghada, and Alexandria. The authority also seeks to hold “Fawanees Ramadan" festival. Mahmoud also expected that the number of tourism flights coming from Japan may be doubled after operating Egypt air's Cairo-Japan line; mentioning that the coming Japanese tourism in 2011 slashed to 27 thousand tourists compared with 126 thousand tourists in 2010. As for Saudi market, he assured that it hasn't influenced by the turmoil happened last week, especially after the popular efforts to overcome the crisis.
