Tourist arrivals in Egypt rose 51% year-on-year in 1Q2017 while the number of nights spent jumped 107% y-o-y, Tourism Development Agency head Hisham El Demery said, Youm7 reports. Arab tourism was up 38% during the first three months of the year, and tourist arrivals from Europe increased 60%, El Demery said. He attributed the rise in tourism inflows to the launch of promotional campaigns in 11 countries, as well as the Tourism Ministry taking advantage of visits from various celebrities to improve foreigners’ perception of Egypt.

In news from the tourism sector, Thomas Cook says it is seeing a recovering in “holiday bookings for Turkey and Egypt,” Reuters reports. The tour operator echoed similar concerns raised by TUI, saying competition at home had slowed growth. “Unlike TUI, Thomas Cook was confident of a recovery in its Turkish and Egyptian markets, with [CEO Peter Fankhauser] saying bookings to Egypt had more than doubled, and that the recovery there and in Turkey was helping make up for flattening demand for the Spanish islands.” Thomas Cook has recently canceled planned trips to Sharm El Sheikh for next winter and summer 2018, replacing them instead with additional trips to Hurghada and Marsa Alam.