Revenues from Egypt's lucrative tourist industry dropped by 30 percent in 2011 due to unrest that rocked the country following the ouster of president Hosni Mubarak, the minister of tourism said.

According to AFP, Munir Fakhri Abdel Nur told reporters that tourism revenues in 2011 dropped to $8.8 billion compared to $12.5 billion in 2010, with tourist arrivals falling and their daily expenditures also dropping.

Tourists spent 114 million nights in Egypt in 2011 compared to 141 million nights in 2010, he said, each spending about $72 per day instead of $85 the previous year.

"The security circumstances in the country have affected tourism," Abdel Nur noted, stressing however that he was confident that the situation would improve in the coming year to make up for the losses of 2011.

“Egypt plans to lure more tourists from Asia and South America - rather than crisis-hit Europe - to give the sector a push after last year's unrest,” M&C quoted the minister as saying.

“Egypt's tourism industry has to open up new markets. In particular, we need to cater to south-east Asia and South America, and reshuffle the focus from crisis-hurt Europe,” Abdel Nur said.

“I believe Europe is in a bigger crisis than Egypt and we need a new marketing strategy to attract tourists from India, China and Brazil,” he added, referring to the debt crisis plaguing countries using the euro currency.