[Editor: Susan is a former full-time editor of Arab-West Report who has lived since February 2009 in Hurghada]

Many sectors throughout Egypt suffered greatly as a result of the 2011 Revolution. Perhaps the hardest hit however, was the tourism industry. Beach towns that were in former years overflowing with tourists were populated by a few lonely vendors struggling to sell their wares to any passer-by. In Sharm al-Shaykh, a previous hot-spot for foreign beach tourists, cafes sat empty and the streets lay dead. In Cairo which saw the brunt of the violent clashes during the uprising, the great pyramids played host to only a handful of visitors in a week, a stark contrast to the throngs of people that used to visit daily.