Egyptian Minister of Tourism Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour said the number of tourists visiting Egypt within the next five years would reach 30 million tourists, thanks to tourism investment in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. "The security situation in Egypt is stable and tourists even visit Tahrir Square, and they were not attacked or harassed," Abdel Nour said in a press conference at the Egyptian Embassy in Paris on Monday evening. He noted all tourists in Cairo and in other cities and areas feel secure and safe. "Even if there were demonstrations on Fridays on a weekly basis, this should not concern tourists.” Some Egyptian protesters in Tahrir Square waved banners, calling for tourists not to leave, which reflects the interest of Egyptians in the boosting of tourism. Abdel Nour discussed a new advertising campaign to be launched on September 27. He said in the upcoming period, Egypt will host several tourism events including the ‘Tourism International Day' which will be held in Aswan, the ‘Pharaohs Rally' to be held in the first week of October, and ‘Nile Boat,' which links Cairo and Aswan that was stopped in the eighties but will start running again. He said during the two previous days, Sharm el-Sheikh hosted a celebration of World Tourism Awards and Egypt won the first three prizes for the best tourist city of Sharm el-Sheikh and the second for Sharm el-Sheikh as best tourist resort. He stressed the importance of French tourism to Egypt, pointing out French tourists are particularly interested in Egyptian culture and 45 percent of French tourists travel to cultural sites in Luxor and Aswan. “Adding onto the number of French tourists visiting Egypt, about 600,000 tourists visited Egypt last year, adding Russia is a primary source of tourists visiting Egypt as well as tourists from both Ukraine and Germany,” Abdel Nour said. "The number of Russian tourists in Egypt witnessed an increase by 24 percent and a 34 percent increase of Ukrainian tourists in August since last year.” Although there was a tourism crisis in Egypt since the wake of the Egyptian January 25 Revolution, the number of tourists reached 11 million, brining a revenue of U.S. $10 billion. But the number of tourists declined by 25 percent compared to last year. A French journalist asked Abdel Nour, “Do you think there will be a decline in foreign tourism from France during the election period?” to which the minister answered, “On the contrary, Egypt is witnessing a major shift, which should attract more tourists.” The Minister of Tourism is currently visiting Paris, where he is currently participating in the Top Resa Conference for professionals working in the field of tourism and travel.
