Usually pulling in nearly 15 million visitors every year, the recent political chaos in Egypt which resulted in mass protests and rioting came just as the country was expecting its peak winter season for tourism. Vice president Omar Suleiman has since come forward and stated that within the first nine days of the upset, up to $1 billion in revenue was lost.

In 2010, visits to Egypt from America were up by 12.5% and this represented the sixth such year of increases (at a time when many travel markets were suffering due to the global recession). On February 6th, the US issued an official warning regarding travel to Egypt and many holidays were subsequently cancelled – it is thought that this could impact the US economy by as much as $50 million.

The warning is still in effect in the US and many other countries, though it is understood that unrest has decreased since the resignation of former President Mubarak. Germany has lifted its official warning status on travelling to the country.

However, while the famous attractions of the Giza pyramids and the Luxor temple have now been reopened, other tourism hotspots such as the Egyptian Museum are still closed as security is revised – a number of items had been stolen from the site during the riots.

Egypt relies heavily on its tourism industry, which accounts for approximately one in eight jobs and contributes to around 11% of Egypt’s national output.

Reported by Sam Doving.

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