New Delhi, March 23 (PTI): After charming visitors from Europe and America, Egypt, one of the oldest civilizations is looking to draw in a greater number of tourists from India.

"Egypt is a hot favourite among Europeans and Americans, but somehow the number of Indians has always been a little low. So, we are now focussing at India as it has immense potential to boost our tourism sector," Samy Mahmoud, Tourism Counsellor, Egypt Tourism Authority (ETA) in India said. But, the number has definitely increased from 2005, he adds.

"In 2005, we witnessed an inflow of 47,000 Indians, in 2006 the number went up by another 10,000 and we hope that by the end of 2007 around 65,000 Indian tourists will visit Egypt," Mahmoud adds.

Subsequently, the monetary allocation to promote Egyptian tourism in India has also gone up. "We spend around US$ 16 million on advertisements and marketing promotions globally and for India we have budgeted around US$ 500,000. We want to tab India as a market in the sub-continent," he says.

"And India is reacting very positively to our efforts. Tourism in Egypt saw a boost in 2006 recording 9 million tourists resulting in revenues of US$ 8.6 million. New markets like China and India emerged, while traditional markets like France and Italy retreated," another spokesperson of ETA adds.

"There are many destinations in Egypt that are still unexplored. Most associate just pyramids and Cairo, but there are many things even beyond Pharoahs. There is the Port of Alexandria and many new sites dating back to Jesus' birth, his lineage have also been found," he emphasises.