Egypt's Minister of Tourism Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour asked Russia to lift restrictions it imposed on travel to Egypt.
The Russian market is the largest source of Egypt's visitors, at 25.3 percent of all tourists, Abdel Nour told reporters on Sunday. He said that 2.8 million Russians visited in 2010. In 2009, Egypt received more than two million Russian tourists, 11.5 percent up from 2008.
Russia warned its citizens against visiting Egypt following the 25 January uprising, which brought down the regime of former president Hosni Mubarak after 30 years in power.
On 3 March, Italian Ambassador Claudio Pacifico said Italy's foreign ministry had lifted a travel warning advising Italians not to visit Egypt.
