CAIRO (AP) — Egypt is seeking to double the number of visitors to the country in the next five years, its top tourism official told The Associated Press. Egypt is aiming at reaching 30 million visitors by 2028, as its once-thriving tourism sector recovers from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic and the grinding war in Europe following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Tourism and Antiquities Minister Ahmed Issa said Tuesday. Last year, tourism revenues surged to $10.7 billion, up from around $5 billion in 2021, according to the Egyptian central bank. Such an increase, he said, would help the government achieve its target of 18 million tourist visits in 2024. Issa spoke to the AP from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, a neoclassical structure built in the late 19th century and the first purpose-built museum in the Middle East and North Africa.

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Persons: Ahmed Issa, “, ” Issa, Issa, ”, Hosni Mubarak, Ali Abdel, Halim, Abdel, Marcel Dourgnon, “ It’s Organizations: Associated Press, Antiquities, Egyptian, British Museum, European Union, National Museum of Egyptian, Grand Egyptian Museum Locations: CAIRO, Egypt, Europe, Ukraine, Tourism, Russian, Cairo, East, North Africa, Paris, French