Tourism: Growth of "health tourism" in Egypt

Egypt State Information Service

"Egypt will witness tourism boom this year," Tourism Minister Zoheir Garana said on Tuesday 11/12/2007 in press statements at the opening session of an International Conference on Health and Therapeutic Tourism that the get-together coincided with a tourism boom in Egypt.

The Minister said more than ten million tourists will visit Egypt by end of this year.

Tourism income in Egypt will rise to $ 10 billion, the minister added.

Therapeutic tourism is a diversification of tourism products in Egypt to up tourism income, the minister said.

For his part ,Amr el-Ezabi, Chairman of the Egyptian Authority (ETA) said "Egypt is an ideal destination for visitors interested in health tourism due to the wealth of the country's natural resources."

"This sector is very promising on all front for the visitors and investors alike with many opportunities and locations to explore," he added.

See the above page for more. It will be interesting to see if there are any discussions of the controls necessary for the expansion of "health tourism" if it is going to focused entirely on the exploitation of Egypt's natural resources.