Number of tourists coming to Egypt last March to reach 654,900 visitors, compared to 440,700 during March 2016. That number is also increased compared to February 2017, when 539,100 visitors entered the country, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) reported on Monday.
The number of tourist nights increased to 5.4 million nights in March, compared to 2.4 million nights in March of last year; also up compared to February, where it reached 4.5 million nights.
CAPMAS's statistics showed that hotel occupancy increased to 35.7% during December 2016, compared to 27.7% in December 2015.
Egypt's economy has been struggling since an uprising in 2011 ushered in political instability that drove away tourists and foreign investors, major earners of foreign currency.
The tourism sector received a severe blow following the downing of a Russian passenger plane in Sinai in October 2015, which killed all 224 people on board. The Cabinet set a plan in May 2016 aiming to attract 10 million tourists to Egypt by the end of 2017.
The floatation of the local currency is widely expected to have a positive impact on the tourism sector, because the value of goods in the Egyptian market is now cheaper than that of other markets, encouraging tourists to buy Egyptian products and raising the average tourist expenditure while in Egypt.
