PARIS – Egypt can attract 20 million tourists annually in five years, earning the country $20 billion, if life gets back to normal, Egypt's Minister of Tourism Moeir Fakhri Abdul Nur said on Tuesday. He added that the number of tourists could reach 11 million by the end of this year, compared with 15 million tourists last year. During a press conference held at the Egyptian Embassy in Paris, Abdul Nur said that tourism in Egypt was on the right track after the January 25 Revolution. "The tourism sector is very important for the national income. Egypt welcomed about 15 million tourists last year, with revenues hitting $13 billion, representing 11.5 per cent of gross domestic product [GDP]," he said. "Tourism is our biggest source of hard currency," he stressed, adding that the number of tourists has fallen by 40 per cent over the past four months, causing losses of $2 billion, compared with the same period last year.
