The number of tourists who travelled to Egypt in July was 529,200 tourists—a 41.9% decline year-over-year (y-o-y), compared to July 2015, according the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS). The agency explained in its monthly bulletin on the tourism sector, issued on Monday, that the low number of tourists who travelled to Egypt from Russia caused the significant decline. The number of Russian tourists dropped by 60%, followed tourists from the United Kingdom with a 17.5% decline; Germany by 10.4%, and Poland by 3.8% y-o-y. The report added that tourists from the Middle East accounted for 37.3% of arrivals, with Saudi Arabia topping the list and contributing 40.5%. Western Europe came in second with 31.1% of the total number of tourists in July. The most tourists from Western Europe came from Germany with 26.2% of the total, according to CAPMAS. Eastern Europe accounted for 10.3%, with Ukraine contributing 32.1% of the total tourist arrivals from there. Tourists from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and others accounted for about 21.3%. According to CAPMAS, Arab countries sent 233,500 tourists to Egypt in July 2016, compared to 182,200 y-o-y, an increase of 28.1% and a ratio of 44.1% of the total number of tourists. The number of tourists departing Egypt amounted to 452,800 tourists in July, compared to 815,500 tourists in the same month last year, a drop of 44.5%. The report noted that tourists to Egypt collectively stayed 2.6m nights during July 2016, compared to 7.8m nights in July 2015, a decline of 66.4%. This is a result of Eastern Europe spending fewer nights in July this year by 95.1%. The agency also attributed the decline to the lower number of nights spent by Russian tourists in Egypt by 99.5%. The Middle East accounted for the largest share in the number of nights with 30.5%, with Saudi Arabia also topping the region's list with 43.7%. Western Europe followed with 31.7%. Germany accounted for 39.34% of the total number of nights spent by tourists from Western Europe. The rate from Africa reached 12.5%, with Sudan on top with 83.6%. CAPMAS stated that Arab tourists spent 1.3m nights in Egypt in July this year, as opposed to 1.4m nights in July 2015; a decline of 4.2% and a ratio of 50.1% of the total nights through the month. The average number of nights spent in Egypt by tourists registered 5.8 nights in July, compared to 9.5 nights in the same month in 2015.
