Sydney, May 7 (ANI): The Islamic-ruled Egyptian government has opened its arms to visitors who drink alcohol and wear bikinis in an effort to boost tourism numbers which has suffered a decline following a popular uprising which toppled the Hosni Mubarak government in 2011.
Tourism in the country has suffered since the 2011 uprising, which set off two years of periodic rioting and instability, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Expressing optimism about the sector, tourism minister Hisham Zaazou said that the ministry is in talks with radical Muslim groups who have called for a ban on alcohol and women wearing swimsuits, adding that they are trying to make these groups see their point of view.
According to the minister, rebuilding tourism is a national priority for which his ministry has installed cameras in major resorts to stream live videos of tourists so that they can meet the goal of increasing the visitor numbers by 20 percent this year.
However, before coming to power, the Muslim Brotherhood had said that tourists could do without alcohol while ultra-conservative Salafist candidates had demanded a ban on all alcohol sales.
They had also called for segregating Egypt's beaches by sex and banning revealing swimwear. (ANI)
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