WATCH: World's tallest man and shortest woman visit the Pyramids
The pair is expected to visit other famous sites around Egypt during their stay, according to the ministry of tourism.
By REUTERSUpdated: JANUARY 30, 2018 10:58
The world's tallest man, Sultan Kosen, and the shortest woman, Jyoti Amge, visited Egypt's Giza Pyramids on Friday (January 26), as part of a campaign which aims to revive the country's struggling tourism industry.Kosen and Amge were invited by the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Board.It was the first time for either of the record breakers to visit the North African country.35-year old Sultan Kosen who is of Kurdish origin stands at 8 feet 3 inches (2.51 meters). He is considered the first person in more than a decade to officially measure more than 8 feet and is one of only 10 confirmed cases in history, according to the Guinness World Records.Amge, a 24-year-old actress who stars in the American television series, 'American Horror Story' is just 24.7 inches tall (62.7cm).The pair is expected to visit other famous sites around the country during their stay, according to the ministry of tourism.The visit follows a string of visits by celebrities, including Hollywood actor Will Smith and reality star Kourtney Kardashian last year, as well as Argentinean football player Lionel Messi.Egypt's tourism sector suffered many setbacks since the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011 but still remains a vital source of foreign currency. The number of tourists visiting Egypt slumped to 9.8 million in 2011 from more than 14.7 million in 2010.A bomb attack that brought down a Russian plane carrying 224 people from a Red Sea resort in October 2015 further hit arrivals, which dropped to 1.2 million in the first quarter of 2016 from 2.2 million a year earlier.The campaign that brought Kosen and Amge to the Pyramids was organized in cooperation between the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and the Guinness Book of World Records.