CAIRO: After months of low visitor numbers at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, tourists have finally started to return as they embark on short term tourism visits known as “one day trips.” The instability and fear that accompanied the January 25 revolution earlier this year had deterred many tourists from visiting Egypt, serving as a painful blow to the 12 percent of Egyptians employed by the tourism industry. However, it was reported that a large number of tourists flocked to the museum on July 12 as more and more Egyptians engaged in short term traveling. Zahi Hawass, the minister of state for antiquities, said that the number of tourists has been steadily increasing in the last few days in comparison to their low numbers in the preceding months. He further highlights that stabilizing Egypt's level of security, which has been especially volatile in recent weeks, “is crucial in reaching pre-revolution numbers of tourists to Egypt.” He added that the “ministry is exerting all its efforts in cooperation with the ministry of tourism in order to regain Egypt's normal tourism movement.” BM