Egypt's tourism minister is heading to Tehran, the government said, as Cairo tries to halt sliding visitor numbers and thaw relations with Iran after a 30-year freeze.
Minister Hisham Zaazou will visit the Iranian capital from Monday under a drive "to restore tourism activity into Egypt and discover new and diverse markets", the Tourism Ministry said in a statement.
Last month President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became the first Iranian leader to visit Egypt since Tehran's 1979 Islamic revolution, and called for a strategic alliance with Cairo.
Egypt's tourism sector has suffered since a popular uprising toppled president Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Waves of riots and instability have driven many tourists away.
Tourism used to account for more than a tenth of Egypt's gross domestic product before the uprising. In 2010, around 14.7 million visitors visited Egypt, generating around USD$12.5 billion, but this slumped to 9.8 million people in 2011, bringing in USD$8.8 billion.
