Tourist flow to Egypt fell more than 30 percent in 2011 owing to mass riots in the country which led to revolution, Tourism Minister Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour said on Sunday.
A nationwide revolution which forced long-standing president Hosni Mubarak to step down swept across Egypt in late January. The majority of foreigners living or having vacations in Egypt fled the country over security concerns.
"A flow of foreign tourists to Egypt decreased by 33 percent... it is a very serious reduction," the minister told a tourism conference, adding that last year's statistics was also spoiled by clashes in Cairo last October.
Country's incomes from tourist sector fell to $8.8 billion in 2011 from $12.5 billion in 2010.
"In 2010 every foreign tourist spent $85 a day on average, while in 2011 this item decreased to $72," Abdel Nour also said, adding that year 2012 might be more successful.
Tourist sector in Egypt forms about 11 percent of country's gross domestic product and gives jobs for three million Egyptians.
