Egypt said data showing a decline in its tourism revenues on Luxembourg Stock Exchange did not account for the country’s full activities during 2018/2019 since its prospectus only covered revenues of the first nine months of the elapsed year.

In an official statement on Saturday, the finance ministry said tourism revenues rose by 28.2 percent in 2018/2019, hitting $12.5 billion, up from $9.8 billion in FY 2017/2018.

It said those figures reflected a recovery in tourism activities in the country due to the government's efforts to boost an industry strategic to the national economy.

The statement comes a few days after a supplement to a prospectus issued in Luxembourg Stock Exchange showed a decline in tourism revenues in FY 2018/19 in a comparison of tourism revenues in FY 2018/19 to revenues in 2017/18.

The government has embarked on a plan to reform and modernise the tourism sector in order to increase hard currency revenues.

Egypt aims to attract 12 million tourists in FY 2019/2020, an 11 percent increase on the numbers of tourists in FY 2018/2019.