Just hours after 19 tourists died in Luxor in a hot air balloon crash, the Tourism Ministry released a report indicating significant growth in the tourism sector last month.
903,400 tourists visited Egypt in January, a 10.2 percent increase compared to the same month last year, the report sed.
Visitors spent 13.8 million nights in the country, a 30.3 percent increase compared to last year, bringing in US$1 billion in revenues.
Europeans accounted for 71.4 percent of incoming tourists last month, followed by tourists from the region, who accounted for 18.6 percent of visitors.
The tourism sector, a major source of national income, was decimated following the 25 January 2011 revolution, and has had difficult regaining its former health. Some analysts believe the Luxor hot air balloon accident will halt last month’s growth and negatively impact the sector.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
