Tourism in Egypt 'on the rise'

Officials in Egypt have said the number of tourists heading to the country this year is set to rise by almost a fifth, suggesting more and more of us are returning to Egypt holidays.

According to Egypt's minister for tourism Hisham Zaazou, the nation saw 8.8 million tourists in the first nine months of 2012.

The overall number for the entire year is expected to reach 12 million, according to the minister.

Mr Zaazou said he hoped by 2013 that figure would bounce back to 15 million - the number of tourists Egypt welcomed in 2010.

Prior to the Arab Spring, the uprising which led to the end of Hosni Mubarak's rule, tourism accounted for more than 10% of the country's GDP.

In September the minister reassured potential holidaymakers, saying holidays to traditional beach resorts such as Sharm-El Sheikh would not be affected by country's new Islamic-led administration.

"Our desire to introduce additional products that would suit certain Arab and Islamic market segments ... will not happen at the cost of our mainstream business," he told Reuters.