Egypt gets record 9.7m visitors in 2006-07

Cairo: Egypt received a record 9.7 million visitors in 2006-07, 13 per cent up on 8.6 million in the previous year, state news agency MENA said on Monday. Egypt's financial year runs from July to June.

The visitors brought $8.2 billion to the country, 14 per cent up on $7.2 billion in the previous year, preserving the status of tourism as a major contributor to Egypt's current account, along with oil and gas exports, Suez Canal transit fees and remittances from Egyptians working abroad.

The agency quoted Tourism Minister Zoheir Garrana as saying the visitors spent a cumulative total of 92.3 million nights in Egypt, 8.5 per cent up on 85.1 million in 2005-06.

The government is planning to receive 14 million visitors a year in 2011, by which time the country will have 240,000 hotel rooms, compared to 184,000 now, he added.

The government is looking to tourism for job creation, saying that every five extra visitors create one extra job, either directly or indirectly.