Tourists have long flocked to Egypt to see the pyramids, take a trip up the majestic Nile or relax on one of its many sun-kissed beaches.

But, in a potentially damaging blow to its economy, Egypt has now been ranked below countries such as Pakistan, Yemen and Chad for "safety and security" in an influential report on tourism by the World Economic Forum.

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It is perhaps little wonder that tourists are spooked — amid ongoing political unrest, Molotov cocktails, gunfire and tear gas have become almost commonplace in some areas.

Two years after the revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, protesters still return to Cairo’s Tahrir Square — where it all began — to demonstrate against the Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and lament the country’s failing economy.

Earlier this month, Bedouin gunmen kidnapped a British couple who were on their way to the glittering beaches of Sharm El Sheikh. They were quickly released, but Bedouins have taken other hostages and also attacked police stations and blocked access to towns to show their discontent with what they see as their poor treatment by Cairo.

Last month, thugs attacked and entered the InterContinental hotel in Cairo, forcing it to close down while it implemented heightened security measures.

And there has been also been unrest over death sentences handed out to 21 soccer fans over a deadly riot at a stadium last year.

From terrorism to road accidents
The World Economic Forum report, The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index 2013, ranked Egypt overall in 85th place out of the 140 countries considered by the group, down 10 from last year. 

The safety and security category looked at "the costliness of common crime and violence as well as terrorism." It also considered the reliability of the police and the number of road traffic accidents.

Egypt was in 140th and last place on this list behind Yemen at 139, Chad at 138, and Pakistan at 137. The U.S. State Department has current travel warnings for the latter three countries, but not Egypt.

According to the Egypt’s state information service, tourism makes up 11.3 percent of Egypt’s gross domestic product.

In 2010, before the revolution, Egypt welcomed an estimated 14.7 million tourists who brought $12.5 billion in revenue. Last year, it had 11 million tourists bringing $10.5 billion in revenue.

Emile Asaad, manager of an American Express travel agency in the ancient city of Luxor, home to King Tut's tomb and the famous temples of Luxor and Karnak, said that “the important thing is that when people need to walk in the street they want to feel safe."

"We have over 400 boats on the Nile, there is still 20 to 25 percent occupancy on some of the most popular boats, but others are just sitting and not operating," he said. "We don't know how the future looks."

Adla Ragab, an economic advisor to the Egypt’s Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou, said officials were taken aback by the WEF report.

"When we first saw it, we were shocked. We held a lot of workshops to discuss this issue," she said by phone.

Ragab said media reports had led people to believe that Egypt is more dangerous than it actually is. She added that during a trip to the U.S., hotel staff had insisted on escorting her to a nearby restaurant after dark, but that didn’t mean she would advise people not to go to the U.S.

'It's a nice country'
A selection of foreign tourists in Egypt appeared to support Ragab’s view.

"I can say to anybody, go to Egypt! It's a nice country. There [are] so many things to see. It's very good weather, it's warm in the winter and there's no problem," Dirk Posner, of Leipzig, Germany, said while visiting the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Yuan Ye, from Shandong province, China, recommended that tourists use a trusted travel agency and explore the country with a group because of difficulties with facilities and services.

"I think generally it is safe for tourists, but you should be careful, very careful from the peddlers who try to sell you something — force to sell you something," he said with a smile.

Jaffar and Francoise Bentchikou, from Paris, France, also encouraged foreigners to visit.

"We saw that the problems were limited to some places so we just try to avoid them," Jaffar said. "[Tourists] have to be conscious of the situation, but for the time being we have seen nothing against tourists especially."

"We feel very bad about the revenue lost for tourism for the Egyptians," Francoise added.  "That is something that makes us very unhappy."

But travel companies said many people were staying away.

Bob Atkinson, a travel expert with the U.K.-based price-comparison website TravelSupermarket.com, said unrest in Egypt had "seriously affected the tourist trade."

"The Arab uprisings very much put the Egypt market into a tailspin," he said.

Flavia Jaber, owner of Toronto-based company Road to Travel, which includes Road to Egypt, said that "our business to Egypt is dead in the water at the moment."

"People are not going to Egypt right now, at least not from North America," she said.

"Definitely there are things going on in Egypt that are very unsavory and when you are considering going on a holiday, you want to go and relax, have a good time," she added. "You might say let’s not go to Egypt this year, let’s wait until things settle down."

However, there was at least one thing in Egypt's favor in the WEF report — the price. The country was ranked the fourth cheapest tourist destination in the world "with competitive hotel prices, low fuel costs and low prices more generally." 

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A plane carrying mostly tourists crashed in Kenya's Masai Mara national park Wednesday, according to news reports, killing up to four people.

Two German tourists and two Kenyan pilots died, local police chief Peterson Maelo told Reuters.

An AFP report said there were four American survivors, but this could not be confirmed.

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Maelo said one of the dead tourists, an elderly woman, died first while the other, a middle-aged man, succumbed to his injuries later.

The aircraft was carrying between 12 and 14 people, the BBC reported.

Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper reported that six passengers on board the light aircraft, belonging to Mombasa Air, were seriously injured as the pilots prepared to land at Ngerede Airstrip near the Mara Safari Club.

It quoted airstrip manager Daniel Jivai saying the plan wobbled before it came down at around 12:17 p.m. local time (4:17 a.m. ET).

“When we saw it coming down, there was a swift response from hotel personnel, tourists, and other visitors around the place and we managed to put off a small fire on one of the engines," said Jivai.

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LONDON – Posing for photos in front of Tower Bridge and buying souvenirs on the sidewalks, they could be any other tourists among the summer crowds. But with most London 2012 events now over, it's the turn of the world's greatest athletes to be awe-struck as they turn up at visitor attractions across the city.

Rebecca Soni, American gold medalist and winner of the 200m breaststroke, took a trip on the London Eye with fellow swimmers on Saturday, while double-gold winning gymnast Gabby Douglas went sightseeing on Wednesday, according to ESPN.

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“Go USA!” shouted an onlooker as three of the U.S.'s four track cycling silver medalists -- Lauren Tamayo, Jennie Reed and Sarah Hammer -- took a tour of the Tower of London with NBCNews.com on Saturday.

“It’s great to get out and see a bit of London,” said Reed, from Seattle. “Tower Bridge is stunning -- it’s incredible to have seen it on the TV so many times and now to see it up close.”

The trio was greeted at the 11^th century royal fortress by a Yeoman Warder in traditional dress, and saw the Crown Jewels during their walk-through.

“It was incredible,” said Hammer. “We also saw the room where they used to keep all the exotic animals like lions and polar bears.”

Apart from a few admiring glances, the women moved largely un-noticed through tourist crowds outside the Tower, where Reed stopped to buy some art on the sidewalk.

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“For the first week we in the bubble of the village and didn’t really go out at all,” said Tamayo. “It’s easy to forget that you now need to take all your personal things again. When I went out I realized I was on the Tube and didn’t have any credit cards or ID on me except my accreditation.”

The women plan to visit Borough Market to buy gifts and specialty foods before leaving London with their teammates on Monday.

As well as turning tourist in London, the entire U.S. Olympic team has been giving back to the host nation by donating $157 per gold medal won at the Games to local sports and recreation charity Kids Company as part of Thank You Britain campaign.

Fans: Day at Olympics well worth $1,000 for family of 4

Reed said the athletes had much to be thankful for, including the Olympic Village.

“The accommodation has been great and the food probably the best of any Games I’ve been to,” she said.

Hammer described the atmosphere inside the Village, where their shared apartment overlooks part of the Olympic Park.

“Sometimes we have been watching events on TV and when you turn the sound down you can actually listen out the window and hear the same crowd noise for real -- it’s incredible,” she said.

Their verdict on London? “It’s very busy -- I’m amazed that people here are describing this as quieter than usual -- and the atmosphere is great,” said Tamayo.

"It's easy to forget that these world class athletes are tourists, too, and most are now enjoying all that Britain offers," said Mark Di-Toro, a spokesman for tourism agency Visit Britain. "When the athletes leave is when our work really begins to create a sustained and positive tourism legacy."

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LIMA, Peru - Peru's government declared a health alert along its northern coastline on Saturday and urged residents and tourists alike to stay away from long stretches of beach, as it investigates the unexplained deaths of hundreds of dolphins and pelicans.

At least 1,200 birds, mostly pelicans, washed up dead along a stretch of Peru's northern Pacific coastline in recent weeks, health officials said, after an estimated 800 dolphins died in the same area in recent months.

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The Health Ministry recommended staying away from beaches, though stopped short of a ban, and called on health officials to use gloves, masks and other protective gear when collecting dead birds.

The peak tourism season around Lima's beaches is over, though many surfers are still venturing into the waters near the capital.

The Agriculture Ministry said preliminary tests on some dead pelicans pointed to malnourishment. Oscar Dominguez, head of the ministry's health department, said experts had ruled out bird flu.

Watch World News videos on msnbc.com

"The Health Ministry ... calls on the population to abstain from going to the beaches until the health alert is lifted," the ministry said in a statement posted on its website, along with a photograph of a dead pelican.

The ministry said officials had so far checked 18 beaches in and around Lima for dead birds, but gave no details on any findings.

A mass pelican death along Peru's northern coast in 1997 was blamed at the time on a shortage of feeder anchovies due to the El Nino phenomenon.

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Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

 

Donald Trump swept into Scotland's parliament on Wednesday to demand the country end plans for an offshore wind farm he fears will spoil the view at his exclusive new $1.2-billion golf resort.

In a typically blunt display, the property tycoon told an inquiry into renewable energy to stop the wind power efforts in the country's north.

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"Scotland, if you pursue this policy of these monstrous turbines, Scotland will go broke," he said. "They are ugly, they are noisy and they are dangerous. If Scotland does this, Scotland will be in serious trouble and will lose tourism to places like Ireland, and they are laughing at us."

Members of the committee are looking at how achievable the Scottish government's green targets for 2020 are. The plans for 11 200-foot tall wind turbines are part of the government's goal of positioning itself as a leader in renewable energy.

When challenged to produce hard evidence about his claims on the negative impact of turbines, Trump said: "I am the evidence, I am a world-class expert in tourism."

The public gallery burst into laughter.

'They wanted my money'
Trump claimed Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond and his predecessor Jack McConnell gave him verbal assurances a wind farm would not be built off the coast of his resort.

"They wanted my money," Trump said. "I was lured into buying the site, after I had spent my money they came and announced the plan. At the time I bought the land I felt confident the wind farm was not going to happen."

The inquiry, recorded by broadcaster BBC Scotland, heard that Trump paid $7.2 million for the majority of the land eight miles north of Aberdeen in January 2006. The resort is due to open on July 10.

There was an irony to Trump's complaints: When Salmond backed Trump's plans for the resort, he was hailed a "great man" by the tycoon.

Only four years ago, the two men appeared to be the best of golfing friends, when Mr Trump invited Salmond and actor Sir Sean Connery – who endorses Salmond’s pro-independence political party -- to join him on the first tee at the opening of the resort.

But Trump turned on the leader over plans to put the wind farm off the coast and within view of the golf course. He claims the turbines will ruin the environment and will be bad for tourism.

In February, Trump wrote a public letter to Salmond announcing an international crusade against wind farm developments around Scotland’s coast, The Scotsman reported.

In a furious attack, Trump accused Salmond of being “hell-bent on destroying Scotland’s coastline and therefore Scotland itself.”

He wrote: “You will single-handedly have done more damage to Scotland than virtually any event in Scottish history!”

The course was built on sand dunes despite protests from locals and environmentalists. The dunes, which were home to rare wading birds, were bulldozed to make way for the fairways in 2009 and 2010.

Scotland's tourism agency said its own research shows 83 percent of UK visitors will not be turned off by turbines.

"We are both reassured and encouraged by the findings of our survey which suggest that, at the current time, the overwhelming majority of consumers do not feel wind farms spoil the look of the countryside," said VisitScotland chief Malcolm Roughead.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sun worshippers are welcome on Tunisia's beaches even though an Islamist government now runs the Mediterranean country which relies heavily on tourism to fill its coffers, its prime minister said on Monday.

"We will respect the traditions of our visitors in their food, and clothing and lifestyle," Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali said at a conference to promote tourism held on the island of Djerba, known for its white sandy beaches and luxury spas.

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As if to reinforce his message, a wide selection of alcoholic beverages was on offer at the opening ceremony of the tourism conference on Sunday night.

That message is in stark contrast to neighboring Libya, which earlier this year told msnbc.com it does not intend to follow Tunisia and Morocco down the road of mass tourism and relatively widespread alcohol sales.

Jebali's moderate Islamist Ennahda party took power at the head of a coalition in an election after last year's revolution, which ousted veteran leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and sparked the Arab Spring.

Could sun-soaked Libya be the Mediterranean's next tourism hot spot?

Tunisia, which relies on tourism for almost 7 percent of its gross domestic product, saw visitor numbers and tourist revenues drop by more than a third after the revolution.

"Unfortunately, some want to paint Tunisia as a jungle and sow fear of the Ennahda government but this does not reflect reality and the proof is that these critics speak freely," Jebali told journalists on the sidelines of the conference.

About 5 million tourists visited the country last year, down from 7 million in 2010 as fears over security caused tourists to flee or to cancel bookings.

Tunisia has since made a relatively smooth transition to democracy and tourists are returning to its coastal resorts. But occasional protests and lingering fears that Ennahda will slowly seek to Islamise society have held back the recovery, as has the economic crisis in Europe.

Jebali said bookings had improved for 2012 and Tunisia hoped to regain its 7 million tourists and top that by encouraging visits to historical, cultural sites and the southern desert.

In an effort to allay fears that Tunisia would impose sharia, or Islamic law, as some conservative Islamists have demanded, Jebali said a constitution is being drafted that would protect the "civil" nature of the state.

"We want to reassure everyone and even our own people that there is nothing to fear from freedom and democracy," he said.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Libyans have been taking to beaches once reserved for slain dictator Moammar Gadhafi, amid hopes that the war-ravaged country could build a tourist industry.

The country has the longest stretch of coastline on the Mediterranean Sea with hundreds of miles of largely deserted beaches.

Could sun-soaked Libya become a tourism hot spot?

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Attracting overseas tourists may prove problematic with some ongoing fighting between rival groups.

Militias have clashed in Zuwara, western Libya, in recent days, killing at least 18 people.

However an army official told Reuters Thursday that the two groups had stopped fighting after government troops imposed a ceasefire.

Reuters reporters in the town said there was no sign of fighting Thursday, in marked contrast to the day before when mortars and rockets were kicking up plumes of smoke, and the town hospital was over-flowing with the wounded.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Libya has all it takes to become a vacation paradise: 1,300 miles of palm-fringed coastline, five world-class cultural heritage sites and an attractive historic quarter in Tripoli featuring fine colonial buildings.

What is doesn’t have, though, is tourists.

But following the overthrow of dictator Moammar Gadhafi, there are plenty of reasons for hotels and tour operators to be optimistic.

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Soaked in sun, the country's position at the meeting point of the desert landscape of the Sahara and the Mediterranean makes it ideal for trekking and windsurfing.

Libya's extraordinary history and ancient archaeological riches -- it boasts five United Nations world cultural heritage sites, including the remains of the Roman Empire outpost Leptis Magna and the Greek Hellenic city of Cyrene -- are its primary attractions.

It was off-limits for decades as a pariah state thanks to Gadhafi’s involvement in global terrorism, but a thaw in relations with Western countries saw a 14 per cent rise in visitor numbers between 2006 and 2010 and a 30 per cent jump in hotel revenue over the same period from $49 million to $65 million, according to analysts Euromonitor.

'Big expectations'
That tourism renaissance was all but destroyed by the Arab Spring uprising and subsequent civil war, but there are hopes it could resume and emulate the success of other recovering war zones: the New York Times three years ago named Beirut as its number one global destination.

In Tripoli, the Rixos Al Nasr hotel -- where journalists were trapped during last August’s fierce fighting –- is open and full of guests, and its owners say they have “big expectations” in the coming months.

One small group is this week exploring the country on a trip organized by Political Tours, a specialist firm run by former New York Times Balkans correspondent Nicholas Wood, while managers at Simoon Travel, a British operator that organizes tours of the Middle East and North Africa, are visiting later this month with a view to restarting its Libya itineraries.

“We are optimistic because reports suggest most of the monuments and ancient sites have been left undamaged by the NATO bombing,” Simoon’s managing director Amelia Stewart told msnbc.com. “It is such a fascinating and diverse country and we would like to offer trips once it is safe enough to do so.”

Access to the country is slowly improving following the end of NATO airstrikes that drove out Gadhafi’s regime: United Airlines partner British Midland International resumes direct flights to Tripoli from London Heathrow later this month, while British Airways will return to the city from May 1.

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Business travelers still account for the majority of visitors as the oil industry returns, but huge problems remain. The ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) is struggling to impose its authority on a country awash with weapons and militias have stepped into the vacuum, carving the country into local fiefdoms.

“Each area has its own guys who consider themselves in charge, which creates a huge security problem,” Wood said. “That lack of co-ordination, added to bureaucracy, makes Libya a very difficult place to visit for the time being.”

Many Western hotel chains that opened in anticipation of a tourism boom remain closed for the time being. The Marriott in Tripoli is not accepting reservations, while a spokeswoman for New York-based Starwood Hotels said it did not yet have a reopening date for its Four Points by Sheraton in the city.

Mustafa Özbinici, spokesman for the Turkish owners of the Rixos Al Nasr, said: “Libya is a intact country tourism-wise, with 2,200 kilometers [1,367 miles] of sea shore, so we believe that it will be a good development in long term. We have big expectations with Libya.

A year on, Libyans enjoy freedoms but anxieties abound

“However, there are some difficulties still remaining, especially the process of reorganization. As a company, we are trying to support people of Libya during this hard time including the injured people and their families.”

The threat of sporadic violence has also pushed up the cost of travel insurance, putting tours firmly into the "niche" market: Simoon’s cheapest package starts at about $2,000. “We will have security staff with us,”Wood added.

Tourism ministers from across the Middle East will meet on April 30 for a special summit between the Arabian Travel Market and the World Tourism Organization to drive forward tourism in the wake of the Arab Spring.

“Prior to the onset of violence, the government had finally developed a Tourism Master Plan for 2009-2013, with some vision expressed about the much longer-term, through to 2025,” Nadejda Popova, tourism analyst with Euromonitor, told msnbc.com.

Christian war graves desecrated in Libya

“Investment started pouring into the country’s travel and tourism industry, with more than six 5-star hotels planned in Tripoli as well as ambitious development plans for airports, ports, roads and rail projects linking Libya to its neighbors. However, the future is now uncertain and Libya’s travel and tourism industry is expected to suffer losses for at least another two years. There is a great deal of reconstruction needed, and efforts will be geared towards getting the country back on its feet before engaging in more tourism developments.”

Without a government strategy for the industry, growth is likely to be slow. Tourism and leisure has never accounted for than one per cent of consumer spending in Libya, compared to the global average of 16 per cent, according to Popova.

But one thing seems certain: Libya is unlikely to follow north African neighbors such as Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco into mass tourism. “I doubt it will ever have resorts like Sharm el-Sheikh,” said Stewart. “Libya has always been careful to ensure it doesn’t end up with an industry catering for those wanting sun and cheap booze.”

'There will be no alcohol'
Her view was echoed by the Giuma Bukleb, media attaché to the Libyan Embassy in London. He told msnbc.com: “We will never be like other countries with lots of big resort hotels, and there will be no alcohol. We want to encourage people to see our heritage sites.”

He added: “We are very keen to welcome tourists but maybe the time is not right just now. We have to get the country back on its feet first.”

Sarkozy denies Gadhafi gave his campaign $65 million

There are other practical hurdles: visitors must still apply in advance for a visa, rather than making arrangements on arrival as is the case in Egypt. And most countries, including the United States, require travelers to inform their local embassy in Libya about their trip.

“Libya has such incredible potential but there is a long way to go,” Wood said.

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