CAIRO: Egypt's Minister of Tourism, Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, expressed his confidence that tourism will return to normal during the current year, especially from the Arab market, depending on the positive indicators that were shown this year. The number of Arab tourists to Egypt increased significantly during the first quarter of this year, to about 62% compared with the number of tourists in the same period last year, and the Arab market was one of the least markets affected by the events that followed the 25 January revolution, compared to the general decline in tourism seen during the past year, which amounted to 33% compared to 2010. The minister stressed the importance of Arab tourism, which represents about 15% of the tourism traffic to Egypt, stressing the need to deepen ties between the brotherly Arab countries, and create more close bonds at all levels. He pointed out to the need to take advantage of the changes sweeping the global tourism industry, where new tourist markets emerged such as Ukraine, Poland, Brazil and China, and said they will contribute by a large increase to the incoming tourism to Egypt. Abdel Nour stressed that security and stability prevail throughout Egypt, especially in tourist destinations, which is experiencing a significant tourist flow.
