Egypt expects 8.5 million tourist arrivals

Egypt's Tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Maghrabi said that incoming tourism achieved several successes last year, citing a 7.5 million figure.  In an interview with CNBS channel, the minister said that influx of tourists into Egypt is expected to hit 8.5 million this year.

Egypt can be a source of attraction for some 14 million tourists with its marvellous potentials, he added.

According to him, the tourism ministry has an ambitious plan to attract more tourists through travel agencies. The ministry will become some sort of an operations theatre for the project, he said,

Egypt has some 100,000 hotel rooms around the country, the minister said, adding, the ministry has a target of increasing that number by 10,000 a year over the coming 10 years to meet increasing demand.