By Alexandra Homma

Travel Mar. 03, 2011 - 10:00AM JST ( 6 )

TOKYO —

Less than a month after Hosni Mubarak stepped down as Egypt’s president following a series of protests and unrest in what became known as the “Youth Revolution,” Egypt is determined to restore its tourist sector to its pre-Jan 25 level. Japan will be vital to the recovery of Egypt’s tourism industry, Walid Mahmoud Abdelnasser, Egypt’s ambassador in Japan, said on Wednesday.

In an effort to restore credibility and security assurance among Japanese tourists, embassy officials in Tokyo have continuously been making efforts to partner with travel agencies, tour operators and government officials, including inviting Japanese correspondents to visit tourist destinations and report the situation on the ground. “We will spare no effort to fully restore tourist traffic from Japan to Egypt. A solid, sustained and transparent partnership with our Japanese interlocutors is the key to our success,” said Abdelnasser. “We count on Japan to help us restore Egypt.”

The recent reopening of the pyramids, museums and major tourist destination such as Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh, demonstrate that the country is on its way to recovery, but empty souvenir shops and hotels indicate that more time will pass before tourism returns to its glamorous days. 

Tourism is the heart of Egypt’s economy, contributing approximately 12% of the country’s GDP and securing over 3 million jobs in the labor market. Egypt has been growing in popularity among Japanese tourists over the past years. More than 126,000 Japanese tourists visited in 2010, a 37% increase over 2009.

With the January unrest, however, the Japanese government has shown reluctance to list the country as a safe destination, and has only recently lifted its travel advisory from Level 3 to Level 2.

A number of countries including Germany, Poland, Italy, France and the UK, have already lifted or eased their travel advisories to Egypt and tourists have gradually begun to return. Egypt is making efforts toward similar achievements in Japan, hoping for a travel advisory Level 1 for safe travel and security.

The ambassador said that main infrastructure facilities have not been damaged during the January demonstrations and major tourists sites are ready to return to business.

With the approach of the Golden Week at the end of April, when Japanese travel overseas the most, Egypt is hoping that tourists from Japan will return and explore a new, better and stronger Egypt, said embassy officials.

For more information on Egypt tourism, visit www.egypt.or.jp/tourism or www.egypt.travel