Luxor tourism rises after launch of German charter flights | Cairo Post

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Luxor tourism rises after launch of German charter flights

Sep. 12, 2015 17:00

By Rany Mostafa

CAIRO: The number of tourists visiting archaeological sites in Luxor Friday soared to 1,120, marking a notable increase after German charter flights resumed operations to the historical city earlier this month.
“Some 434 tourists, out of the arrivals were Germans who arrived in Luxor airport Thursday onboard four charter flights from German airports of Munich, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Schönefeld,” Director General of Upper Egypt Antiquities Department Mostafa Waziri told The Cairo Post Saturday.
According to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), Germany was the second largest market for tourism in Egypt after Russia in 2014.
German tourists visiting the Red Sea resort cities in Egypt increased between 50-60 percent during the period between January and September 2014. Their number exceeded 1.2 million tourists in 2010.
The governor of Luxor Mohammed Badr said that the return of German charter flights is “a positive step to revive the ailing sector ahead of high season scheduled for October through April,” Youm7 reported Saturday.
The number of German tourists visiting Egypt during the period between January and March 2015 increased by 17%, compared to the same period last year, Egyptian ambassador to Germany Mohamed Hegazy told state-owned MENA news agency.