An employee counts money at an exchange office in downtown Cairo on Thursday. (Reuters)

CAIRO: An Egyptian airport official says authorities have levied a new airport tax on tourists leaving the country, a move that has been criticized as being a further deterrent for vacationers considering the country as a holiday destination.

An airport official said Thursday the government started last month applying the roughly $25 fee on ticket purchases through airline companies.

Egypt’s tourism industry has been hit hard by the three years of turmoil since the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

From a high of more than 14 million tourists in 2010, only around 9.6 million came to Egypt in 2011. According to the Tourism Ministry, 9.5 million tourists visited Egypt in 2013.