Hong Kong tourists are flocking to the Land of the Pharaohs in growing numbers.
Visitors from Hong Kong have increased nearly 400 per cent in three years.
'There is a real tourist boom happening at the moment,' Egyptian Consul-General Ali Maher El-Dali said.
In 1993 only 4,500 tourists from the territory visited Egypt. In 1994, the number was 12,000.
Last year, more than 17,000 locals were marvelling at the great pyramids, the Sphinx and the world's greatest open-air museum at Luxor in upper Egypt.
'The potential is enormous,' Mr El-Dali said. 'Compare the number of visitors from Japan, which is up to 80,000, and Germany, which sends more than 100,000 tourists a year, and you can see Hong Kong still has many possiilities.' Travel agents from the territory have recently been invited on familiarisation tours to help boost interest. Their counterparts from Guangzhou have also been taken on escorted tours.