North Africa’s largest economy, Egypt – which has had to deal with violent political upheavals which started in 2011 – has become the preferred tourist destination among Poland’s intrepid travellers, it emerged late on Monday.
According to a report released by the Polish tour operators association, Polish tourists prefer Egyptian destinations like Marsa Alam, Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh more than Spain, Turkey and Greece.
Rasha El-Azayzi, the media relations manager for Egypt’s ministry of tourism, confirmed to Al Ahram Online that Egypt had become the most liked tourist destination to Polish travellers.
This comes after Poland last week lifted its travel ban on Egyptian Red Sea resorts of South Sinai.
The Polish ban came into effect in February this year after a tour bus was bombed to smithereens in the area, killing three South Koreans and one Egyptian bus driver.
European countries including Germany, Italy, France, Ireland, Denmark and Spain have also lifted travel bans slapped on the country’s Red Sea resorts.
Egypt’s tourism income sagged 24.7 percent after this, with the tourism sector losing almost $3 billion in the first half of this year due to these travel bans.
But Hisham Zaazou, the country’s tourism minister, last month said the number of tourists visiting Egypt had surged 77 percent, adding this was the sharpest increase in the past three years.
