CAIRO, March 24 (Aswat Masriya) A British tourist has been raped in Egypt's South Sinai, Tourism Ministry Spokeswoman Rasha Azazi said in a phone interview on Sunday in the night talk show "The Capital".

The tourist was raped by a security personnel who worked at the hotel where she was staying in Sharm al-Shaikh, according to Azazi.

The crime has been reported to the authorities and the punishment may amount to closing down the hotel.

The ministry spokeswoman related the incident, which happened less than a week ago, to the significant rise in sexual harassment in Egypt.

Azazi said that her ministry has filed for amending legislations to maximise the penalty of harassment for offenders who work in the tourism industry.

On her side, Azza Kamel, Coordinator of "I Saw Harassment" movement, said that this is not the first incident of its kind.

"Harassment crimes against tourists have repeated frequently in the past years," she said.

Kamel asked the authorities to send a formal apology to the tourist's foreign ministry and demanded that the defendant stands trial promptly as this crime "threatens the tourism industry in Egypt."