Egypt, still recovering from successive political revolutions, has seen a 5.5 percent surge in the number of tourists from January this year. This is indicative of the fact that the country is stabilising after an extensive period of economy-grounding unrest.

According to state statistics body, CAPMAS, more than 688,000 tourists visited the country throughout the month of January this year. It said almost 40 percent of these tourists were from Eastern European countries, 33 percent from Western Europe and 16 percent from the Middle East.

Ahram Online reported industry sources as having said the reason for the increase in the number of tourists from Eastern Europe was largely due to the falling Russian ruble.

Meanwhile, Ahmed Kouchouk, senior economist at World Bank in Egypt capital Cairo, told Daily News Egypt that the government of Egypt’s recent bid to improve the business climate had led to a small recovery in the number of investors that suddenly got interested in the market after four years of notable setback.

“The investment climate has also benefited from a number of key developments including progressing political road map with one key milestone in the pipeline (Parliamentary Elections) and improved power supplies,” Kouchouk said.