Egypt unrest leads to plunge in Feb tourism revenue
Egypt's tourism revenue fell by more than half in February as political turmoil frightened tourists away and prompted countries to warn their citizens against visiting the country, the government said on Wednesday.
An 18-day popular uprising and the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak saw much of Egypt's economy grind to a halt and also hit its tourism industry, a top foreign currency earner and source of over a tenth of gross domestic product.
The number of tourists visiting Egypt in February slumped to 211,000 from 1.1 million in the same month last year, the state statistics agency said in a faxed statement.
The state statistics agency said tourism spending fell in the month to $385 million compared with $825 million in February 2010.
A slide in foreign exchange earnings has helped weaken the Egyptian pound by 2.45 percent against the dollar since the start of the political turmoil.