Egypt sees noticeable drop in tourist arrivals

The number of tourists coming to Egypt tumbled by 24.5 percent in July compared with the same month last year, state-run statistics agency CAPMAS reported Wednesday. A total of 675,000 tourists visited Egypt in July 2013 compared to some 1 million in July 2012, CAPMAS asserted in a statement obtained by Anadolu Agency. The statistics agency attributed the decrease to Egypt's ongoing political crisis. Egypt has seen mounting political and security tension since the army's July 3 ouster of elected president Mohamed Morsi and the violent dispersal of two pro-democracy sit-ins on August 14.   Following the sit-in dispersals, in which hundreds were killed, the military-backed government imposed a month-long state of emergency in 14 of Egypt's 27 provinces. According to CAPMAS, visiting tourists spent a total of 6.8 million nights in Egypt in July compared to 11.4 million nights in July 2012, representing a 40.1 percent decrease. Most tourists during this period came from Western Europe, while Eastern Europe came in second in terms of July tourist arrivals. CAPMAS previously reported that around 989,000 tourists had visited Egypt in June of this year, Morsi's final month in office. Some 850,000 tourists had visited Egypt in June 2012, according to CAPMAS. In early August, a Tourism Ministry official told AA that tourist arrivals had fallen by 24.5 percent in July. The same official said that overall tourism revenue had fallen by 47 percent in the same month. Several European countries, including Russia (which, according to official figures, accounts for around 20 percent of total tourism to Egypt), have recently warned their citizens against travelling to the country.