Egypt received 640.2 thousand tourists in February 2015, 3.8 percent more than the 616.9 thousand in the same period last year, according to state statistics agency CAPMAS.

The largest number of tourists came from Western Europe who made up 40.4%, according to the Monday report, followed by Eastern Europeans who made up 32.4%.

Tourists visiting from the Middle East were estimated to make up 13.4% of total visitors.

The number of Arab tourists -- who made up 16.4% of total tourists-- rose to 21.3% to reach 105.3 thousand tourists in comparison to 86.8 thousand in February 2015.

An estimate of 606.2 thousand tourists departed during the month, a 6.1% increase from the 571.6 thousand of last year.

However, the number of nights spent by tourists in February 2015 fell to 5.6 million nights, while in the same period in 2014 it was 6.2 million nights.

The number of nights spent by Arab tourists also decreased by 7.3%, dropping from 1.2 million nights in 2014 to 1.1 million nights in the current year.

Egypt’s tourism sector has seen a relative recovery in the past year, after being hit hard by protests and regime change in 2011 and again in 2013.

Last week, tourism minister Khaled Ramy announced that Egypt welcomed three percent more tourists in the first quarter of 2015 than in the same period of the previous year, while reservations for the summer season were up 15% compared to the previous year.

The tourism sector, which contributes to 3.1 percent of Egypt's gross domestic product, is one of the country's most important sources of vital foreign currency.