Egypt unrest scares tourists away from pyramids

Political instability left in the wake of the violent ouster ofPresident Hosni Mubarak crippled Egypts once thriving tourism industry in 2011. But many are hoping the industry can bounce back as the countrys interim military rulers prepare for the transition to a democratically elected civilian administration.

In 2010, tourism accounted for $11.5 billion of the countrys $500 billion GDP. A decline in revenues generated from the countrys third largest economic sector is putting a squeeze on tour operators, including those at one of the greatest attractions in the world, the Great Pyramids of Giza.

"My life is at the pyramids and my job is at the pyramids. My family eats because of the pyramids," says Farag Abdul Hanima,a third-generation horse and camel tour operator in Giza.

The slowdown in tourists has forcedHanima to sell all butsix of the horses in his stable, which once held 35 animals. He refers to 2011 as a "black year" for business.

In the past,Hanima saysup to 1,000 tourists a day would visit during the winter months, many paying upwards of $100 US for a two hour tour of the pyramids and sphinxgood money when you consider the average Egyptian income is less than $200 a month.

Tourism Minister Mounir Abdel-Nour recently told the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper thatrevenues from Egypts tourism sector were down over 33 per cent in 2011. The number of tourist visits last year was 9.8 million, down from 14.7 million in 2010.

Butthe Freedom and Justice party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood that won nearly half the votes in recent parliamentary elections, said that its economic plan would respect the spirit of competition and economic freedoms some Western investors feared would disappear under an Islamist leadership.