Egypt's wealth of historical monuments and temples, popular Red Sea diving spots and pristine beaches on the shores of the Mediterranean have always been a magnet for tourists, deservingly earning the North African country its reputation as a must-visit destination. But the years of political upheavals and economic instability that followed the January 25, 2011, mass uprising in the country have taken their toll on the tourism sector, which has only recently begun to show signs of recovery.

As part of its plan to revive tourism, the government has adopted a “Build it and they will come” strategy in the hope that the country's unrivaled tourist attractions — including a new mega museum, which is expected to be the world's largest archaeological museum — will lure back foreign visitors. 

Egypt's tourism sector had been on a rebound when a bus struck a roadside bomb Dec. 28 carrying Vietnamese tourists less than 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Giza Pyramids. Three Vietnamese tourists and their Egyptian tour guide were killed and at least 10 others were injured in the deadly attack, the first such assault on foreign tourists in Egypt in over a year. The impact of the latest blow to the country's tourism sector is still unclear, but Egypt's tourism industry has in the past proved to be resilient in the face of terrorist attacks and other calamities. The sector has been dealt a series of harsh blows including the February 2016 downing of a Russian airliner over the Sinai Peninsula and attacks on Coptic churches, but in 2017 — after seven lean years — tourism managed to bounce back.

According to figures published by the United Nations World Tourism Organization in its 2018 tourism report, Egypt witnessed a 55.1% increase in tourists to 8.6 million visitors in 2017 compared to the previous year, earning the country its ranking as "the world's fastest-growing tourist destination." The upward curve in tourism continued last year when more than 712,000 tourists visited the country in January 2018, Egypt Today reported, citing figures from Trading Economics, an online statistics site. The turnaround was attributed to improved security and a fall in prices, according to an article published in the Financial Times in May 2018. The November 2016 flotation of the Egyptian currency that led the Egyptian pound to lose almost half of its value against the dollar has meant cheaper holidays for travelers to Egypt.