Number of Egyptian tourists down in 2012

CAIRO, April 13 (UPI) -- The number of tourists visiting Egypt in the first three months of 2012 declined about 25 percent from the same period a year before, statistics indicate.

The state-run news agency MENA reported Friday 2.34 million tourists visited Egypt in the first quarter of 2012, down from 3.1 million the previous year, Ahram Online said.

While the overall number of tourists declined, the number visiting Egypt from Saudi Arabia in the first quarter of 2012 doubled to 220,000, from 110,000 the previous year, said Hesham Zaazou, assistant tourism minister.

During the quarter, 462,000 Arabs visited Egypt.

Egypt's tourism industry, one of the biggest sources of foreign currency, suffered after the violent uprising that led to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, and protests continue in the country.

The number of visitors in 2011 dropped to 10.2 million, down 32 percent from 2010, and tourism revenue fell from $12.5 billion in 2010 to $9 billion in 2011.