Egypt's tourist arrivals beat expectations

Tourist arrivals to Egypt will be higher than expected in 2009 and the numbers will improve in 2010 as Europe rebounds from the economic crisis, Tourism Minister Zoheir Garrana told Reuters in an interview. After months of decline, Egypt saw tourist arrivals advance by 10.7% in September compared to a year earlier, boosted by strong Russian and British arrivals, he noted. Overall, tourism numbers will fall 1-3% this year, but grow 3-5% next year, he predicted.