Egypt sees 3% more tourists in first quarter of 2015

Egypt welcomed three percent more tourists in the first quarter of 2015 than in the same period of the previous year, while reservations for the summer season were up 15 percent compared to the previous year, Tourism Minister Khaled Ramy announced.

Egypt’s tourism sector has seen a relative recovery in the past year, after being hit hard by protests and regime change in 2011 and again in 2013.

The tourism sector is one of Egypt’s most important sources of vital foreign currency.

Net reserves stood at $15.29 billion at the end of March.

The government aims to attract 20 million tourists per year by 2020, significantly higher than the 14.7 million who visited Egypt during the peak year for tourism prior to the 2011 uprising when the sector generated $12.5 billion in revenues.