Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharraf has underlined the importance of the tourism sector in driving forward the country's economic recovery over the coming months.

Sharraf stressed that the industry - one of Egypt's foremost foreign exchange earners and accounting for one in seven jobs - had a key role to play in the country's transition period. It comes as United Nations World Tourism Organisation secretary general Taleb Rifai and World Travel and Tourism Council president and CEO David Scowsill visited in late May.

Rifai and Scowsill both pledged the support of the international tourism community in helping the Egyptian tourist industry to help drive its transition under a new government. Egyptian minister of tourism Mounir Fakhri Abdel-Nour said: "International tourists are slowly beginning to return to Egypt.

"The sector is a lifeline for our economy and in 2010 accounted for 11.5 per cent of our GDP and US$13bn (£8.1bn) in revenues." Scowsill added: "Given the current difficulties in the region, it is important for the industry to get a clear message out that the new Egypt is stable and open for business."

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