The number of tourists visiting Egypt in April fell 35.7 per cent from a year earlier, and the number of nights they spent fell even more, the state Capmas statistics agency said.

Tourists, a major source of Egypt's foreign exchange, have been frightened away by the mass protests that toppled President Hosny Mubarak in February. The number of tourists in the first three months of 2010 plunged by 46 per cent.

Only 800,000 tourists visited Egypt in April, down from 1.24 billion in April 2010, while the total number of nights they spent dropped 44.7 per cent to 6.7 million.

The biggest decline was in tourists arriving from Eastern Europe, whose numbers declined 58.2 per cent.

Egypt's economy contracted by 4.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2011. – Reuters