SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt - Egypt's uprising emptied the hotels, casinos and bars of a tourist trade that employs one in eight Egyptians, but staff expect the recovery to be quick and the revolution to boost business in the long run.

With its year-round warm beaches and wealth of pharaonic antiquities, Egypt earned nearly $11 billion from tourism in 2009, according to the tourism ministry, accounting for over a tenth of gross domestic product.

An 18-day upheaval prompted many countries to issue warnings against travel in Egypt, hamstringing the industry. Sites such as the Giza Pyramids, usually overrun with sunburned visitors, stood ominously empty.

But workers in Sharm El-Sheikh, a Sinai peninsula resort that usually crams in package tourists by the jetful this time of year, say they hope future holiday-makers will be drawn to a country that threw off the shackles of authoritarian rule.

"We have a good feeling for next time. People come here five, six times and they come back. Maybe next time they'll have a good feeling, a feeling of freedom, you know," said Mahmoud el-Helefy, 30, who manages an open-air seaside restaurant.

Hotel occupancy in Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada, another Red Sea tourist hub, sank to 11 percent from 75 percent after the unrest erupted on Jan 25, the Egyptian Hotels Association said.

Reuters