The number of tourist arrivals to Egypt has reached 14 million in the year to October 2010, and the tourism sector is expected to see annual growth of not less than 18 percent by the end of 2010, Al-Gomhuria newspaper cited Tourism Minister Zoheir Garannah as saying. There are currently 240,000 operating hotel rooms with around 212,000 additional rooms under construction, Garannah said, adding that the total number of tourist nights has increased to 140 million. In its daily market report, Beltone Financial cited Garannah's comments, where he highlighted the importance of tourist arrivals in creating job opportunities, saying that for each one million tourists; around 200,000 job opportunities are created. In 2010 alone, the tourism sector managed to add 600,000 additional jobs, Garanah added. Egypt's tourism sector has seen a strong rebound over the fiscal year ending June 2010, with annual growth in tourism receipts rising 10.5 percent to $11.5 billion, Beltone said. Tourism took a hit the previous year, contracting -3.1 percent in fiscal year 2008/09. Total tourist arrivals rose to 13.8 million in fiscal year 09/10 from 12.3 million in fiscal year 2008/09. “While revenues from tourism may constitute around 5 to 6 percent of GDP, its importance lies in the sector's contribution to the increasing level of liquidity in the economy and, thus, its knock-on effect on consumer spending and private consumption, which is key for real GDP growth in Egypt,” Beltone commented in a note. A key employer in Egypt, the sector absorbs around 11 percent of total employment opportunities, Beltone added.
