Boats sail during sunset on the Nile river in the southern city of Luxor (Photo: Reuters)
The number of tourists visiting Egypt in the first half of 2012 grew by 23 per cent to reach 5.08 million, data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics showed on Sunday.
Tourism is showing a slow recovery from the deteriorated levels it reached following the 25 January uprising in 2011 that ousted long-time president Hosni Mubarak.
In the second quarter of 2012 alone, 2.7 million tourists visited the country; a 17 per cent hike over Quarter 1, despite it being a low season.
The number of tourists currently visiting Egypt is dwarfed, compared to the industry’s peak in the second quarter of 2010 at 3.5 million.
Egypt saw around 10.2 million tourists in 2011; 32 per cent less than the year before.
Tourism revenue plunged 30 per cent to $9 billion, against $12.5 billion in 2010.
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