The countries of Eastern Europe exported the highest number of tourists to Egypt during the first half of 2014, sending 1.9 million visitors to Egypt, a figure that represents 45.1% of total tourists visiting Egypt during the period according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS). In a report released on Saturday coinciding with World Tourism Day, CAPMAS said that the number of tourists visiting Egypt during the first half of this year fell to 4.4 million, representing a 25.4% decrease compared to the same period in 2013. The countries of Western Europe came in second, sending 1.4 million tourists and accounting for 31.9% of the total. Approximately 700,000 tourists visited Egypt from Arab countries, representing 16% of the total. Russia topped the list of countries exporting tourists to Egypt during the first half of 2014, followed by the United Kingdom, Germany, Ukraine, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Poland, and Libya. The number of nights spent in Egypt for the same period reached 43.6 million nights versus 65.1 million during the first half of 2013, representing a 33% decrease. World Tourism Day falls on September 27 each year and was adopted by the Statute of the World Tourism Organization in 1970. The holiday was celebrated for the first time in 1980 and its aim was to increase awareness surrounding the importance of tourism and its economic, cultural, political, and social value. The celebration will be held in Mexico this year under the slogan, "Tourism and Community Development." The slogan highlights tourism's potential capacity to support growth opportunities in local communities around the world. Tourism in Egypt accounts for 11.3% of GDP and employs approximately 3.8 million individuals, 1.8 of which are employed directly by the tourism sector and 1.7 million indirectly, according to the Ministry of Tourism. The Ministry of Tourism stated that tourism income in Egypt decreased to $5.9bn last year, representing a 41% drop. According to the head of the International Tourism Sector at the Tourism Activation Authority Ahmed Shoukry, tourism in Egypt is witnessing an upswing following the majority of countries that export tourism to Egypt lifting travel warnings for the Sinai Peninsula. The number of tourists visiting Egypt in July reached 886,000 compared to 765,000 during the same period in 2013, representing 15.8% growth. Tourism to Egypt fell to 9.5 million tourists in 2013 from 11.5 million in 2012, down 17.4% annually according to the report issued by the agency. Arab tourism decreased by 21.7% to 1.8 million tourists in 2013 compared to 2.3 million in 2012. The average number of nights spent by a tourist visiting Egypt fell to 10.3 in 2013 down from 12.6 in 2012. The total number of nights spent by Arab tourists in Egypt dropped to 22.8 million in 2012 down from 36.2 million in 2012, representing a drop of 37%.
