Tourism wasn’t that weak even in November and December 2013, when deadly confrontations between security forces and Islamist supporters were a near-daily occurrence. Already grappling with protests over its economic instability and security issues, Egypt has seen a 41% drop in in-coming tourists, following the crashed Russian passenger plane. The Egyptian tourism ministry said that it had received more than 1 million applications for tourist visas from around the world since last week, but only about half of them were approved. As we have previously noted, holidays that underpinned North African economies are being impacted significantly as tourists shun resorts from Tunisia to Turkey in the wake of terrorist attacks. Tunisia's tourism minister, Salma Lummi, warns that the country's tourism industry, which employs about 400,000 people, has reached a crisis point and its collapse risks fuelling a vicious circle of extremism, adding that "one of the sources of terrorism is lack of hope".
Already grappling with protests over its economic instability and security issues, Egypt has seen a 41% drop in in-coming tourists, following the crashed Russian passenger plane. The Egyptian tourism ministry said that it had received more than 1 million applications for tourist visas from around the world since last week, but only about half of them were approved. As we have previously noted, holidays that underpinned North African economies are being impacted significantly as tourists shun resorts from Tunisia to Turkey in the wake of terrorist attacks. Tunisia's tourism minister, Salma Lummi, warns that the country's tourism industry, which employs about 400,000 people, has reached a crisis point and its collapse risks fuelling a vicious circle of extremism, adding that "one of the sources of terrorism is lack of hope".