Despite tourism being one of the most important sources of cash inflow for Egypt, several accidents over the past few years have highlighted failures to secure and organise the vital industry.  

On Sunday, joint Egyptian police and army forces "accidentally" killed 12 people, including Mexican tourists, prompting condemnation from Mexico.

Egypt's Interior Ministry said the incident took place while the forces were chasing "terrorists" in al-Wahat area in the western desert and that the group was in a restricted area.

THE INDUSTRY

Egypt has been hard at trying to revive its tourism sector. Last month, the state selected global marketing and advertising agency J. Walter Thomposn to promote Egyptian tourism on a three-year contract worth $22 million annually.

Tourism was a main source of income in Egypt until a popular uprising in 2011, which toppled former President Hosni Mubarak's regime and triggered four years of political turmoil. The instability has taken its toll on the sector.  

Notwithstanding the unrest,  tourism still contributes with 11.3 percent of the gross domestic product and is the source of 7 percent of foreign currency, the government said in April. It also supplies 12.5 percent of jobs.

In April, the Egyptian government, which is currently battling a wave of insurgency said it expects revenues from the tourism sector to reach $26 billion by 2020, as it implements a strategy to increase the number of tourists visiting annually to 20 million.

ACCIDENTS AFFECTING TOURISTS IN EGYPT

- Sinai, May 2012: Two American tourists were abducted in the southern part of the peninsula by Bedouins, who demanded the release of a relative who was had been arrested by Egyptian authorities on drug charges. The two were eventually released.

-  Luxor, February 2013: A hot air balloon crashed in Luxor, in the south of Egypt, leaving 19 tourists dead. They included people from the United Kingdom, France, Japan and Hong Kong. The crash came after an explosion occurred while the hot air balloon was in midair.

-Aswan, March 2013: A Chinese tourist was killed and 11 people were injured in a bus accident, while on their way to Aswan in the south of Egypt.  

- Sinai, March 2013: A Norwegian and an Arab citizen of Israel were abducted in Sinai while on their way to the resort city of Dahab, in south Sinai. They were eventually released after negotiations.   

- Sinai, May 2013: Six Mexican nationals were killed and 25 others were injured when a tourist bus flipped on a road in the Sinai Peninsula.

- Sinai, February 2014: Two Korean tourists were killed and others were injured when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated on a tourist bus, near Taba in the south of Sinai. The incident prompted several countries to ban travel to Taba and other parts of Egypt.  

- Sinai, February, 2014: Four Egyptians were killed in the mountains of Saint Catherine in south Sinai in a rare snowstorm. They were part of a group of eight who went missing, four of whom survived the storm.

- Luxor, February 2015: Two Sudanese nationals were killed when a bus flipped on a desert road, on its way to Egypt's southern neighbour Sudan.  

- Hurghada, May 2015: Two tourists were killed and nine were injured when their tourist bus crashed in the resort city of Hurghada, in the east of the country.