By Nada Badawi

The number of tourists visiting Egypt in February 2013 grew 12% compared to the same month last year, the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) reported on Monday.

The state’s official statistical agency showed that a total of 845,000 tourists visited Egypt in February 2013, slightly higher than the 753,000 who visited Egypt the year before.

The report said that the Tourism Ministry has unofficially stated an increase in the number of tourists by 22% as of March 2013.

This puts average growth of tourist numbers in the first quarter of 2013 at around 15%.

Tourist numbers however are 22% lower than in 2010, recording lower revenues of around 25%.

The average length of tourist stays, however, rose to 14.8 nights in February 2013 compared to 8.3 nights in the same period last year and 9.7 nights in February 2010.

In 2012, Egypt witnessed a 17% increase in tourist numbers and a 13% rise in tourism revenues.

The figures follow difficult conditions for the Egyptian tourism sector in the aftermath of the 25 January 2011 revolution.