Greater stability boosts Egypt tourist numbers

A massive increase in the number of tourists visiting Egypt has been attributed to increased stability following last year's protests against former president Hosni Mubarak.

Official government figures show tourist numbers rose by just over 30% in April and the 1.05 million visiting Egypt during that month was 800,000 more than in the same period in 2011.

Egypt's Central Agency for Public Mobility and Statistics is putting the rise down to greater stability this year after the wave of protests against Mubarak in April 2011.

With Egypt popular for family holidays and travellers making private journeys, the largest proportion of tourists came from western Europe, followed by those from eastern Europe. The number of Arab tourists rose 19.6% from 147,000 to 175,000 over the year to April 2012.

The figures also showed visitors spent a total of 12.1 million nights in Egypt in April, compared to 6.7 million during the same month of 2011.