The number of tourists visiting Egypt in July 2011 dropped by 28.2 per cent below July 2010 levels, a slight improvement on the drop witnessed the previous month, official data has shown on Wednesday. There were 30 per cent fewer tourists in June 2011 compared to June 2010. Around 936,000 tourists visited Egypt during July 2011 versus 1.3 million in July 2010. Western European visitors dropped by 32 per cent and Middle Eastern visitors by 30.7 per cent. The number of Arab tourists visiting the country dropped to 219,000 in July 2011, down from 306,000 in July 2010, which constitutes a slide of 28.4 per cent. These figures account for all foreign nationals staying for more than 24 hours in Egypt. Accordingly, the number of Arab tourists could be exaggerated by the influx of Libyan visitors fleeing the war, and Palestinians from Gaza due to the partial opening of the Rafah crossing. A report in May by CI Capital Research estimated that tourism revenues for 2011 will reach US$7.6 billion — a 35 per cent drop below those of 2010.
