Association of British Travel Agents:  2008 is  set to be another bumper year for Egypt as visitors flock to see the mummy  of the famous boy king, Tutankhamun, who had been under wraps in his stone  sarcophagus since the tomb’s  discovery in the 1920’s.

Egypt has experienced incredible growth over the last few years, with UK  visitor numbers increasing 26% in 2006 to 1.03 million. Most of the  increase  in growth to Egypt has been driven by the development of resorts on the  Red  Sea  including Sharm el Sheikh, Dahab and Hurghada. Next year  visitors will also be able to enjoy the new resort at Port Ghalib and Almaza  Bay seaside resort on the Mediterranean coast.

However, this year the rate of visitor growth has been much slower – a  1.5%  increase so far from January to September 2007. But the removal of  Tutankhamun from his sarcophagus to a climate-controlled glass case will  renew interest in Luxor, which itself is undergoing a £250 million facelift. 

The historic Islamic street of Al-Muezz in Cairo and the country’s oldest 

pyramid, Saqqara Djoser, are also undergoing restoration.

The top 7 sights of Egypt:

1. The Pyramids of Giza. These ancient architectural wonders, just

 outside  Cairo, attract visitors in their thousands. Nearby sits the 50 meter

 long  Sphinx.

2. Luxor. Often referred to as the world s greatest open-air museum,  Luxor 

has more well-preserved ancient buildings and monuments than almost

 anywhere  else, and includes the Temples of Karnak. Across the river, at Thebes

 is the  Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens, where Tutankhamun and his

 tomb  are situated.

3. Cairo. The capital is one of the most hectic, unpredictable and

 exciting  cities in the world. The Cairo Museum, where all the treasures  and

 most of  the mummies - of Egypt’s famous tombs are displayed.

4. Sharm el Sheikh. Egypt’s  most developed resort on the Sinai peninsula 

with five star hotels, casinos and some of the world’s best dive  spots.

5. Aswan. Egypt’s southernmost city on the banks of the Nile can be

 used as  a base to see the Tombs of the Nobles and Abu Simbel.

6. Lake Nasser. This huge lake was created during the construction of  the 

Aswan Dam and is best seen from the decks of a cruise ship!

7. Alexandria. A historic Mediterranean city combining archaeological 

treasures with beaches.

Egypt will restrict the number of visitors to the tomb of Tutankhamun  in the  Valley of the Kings to 400 a day from next month. It also plans to  close the  tomb to visitors indefinitely from May next year in order to carry out  restoration work, the  Supreme Council’s  for Antiquities secretary general Zahi  Hawass said in a statement. "The tomb receives a lot of visitors and is considered one of the most famous pharaonic tombs in the valley of the  kings," Hawass was quoted by AFP as saying.