Egypt’s new Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Sherif Fathi, has announced a comprehensive plan to expand the country’s hotel capacity in anticipation of a surge in tourists.
According to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Egypt will receive 7,069,000 tourists between January and June 2024, generating revenues of 6.6 billion US dollars (316.8 billion Egyptian pounds), while 7,062,000 tourists visited Egypt in the same period in 2023, generating revenues of 6.3 billion US dollars (302.4 billion Egyptian pounds).
According to Fathy’s report, Egypt plans to increase tourist numbers to 30 million by the end of 2024, a significant increase from the 14.9 million tourists who visited Egypt in 2023 and a 27 percent annual increase.
The hotel expansion plan outlines a series of initiatives to revitalize the country’s tourism and antiquities sectors, starting with hotel expansion in key tourist destinations such as Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, the Red Sea, South Sinai and the North Coast.
The company will add 4,012 hotel rooms, both traditional and floating, bringing the total to 222,716 in the first quarter of 2024. Room additions include 1,503 rooms in 11 newly opened hotels, 1,264 rooms added through expansions of existing hotels and 1,245 rooms reopened in Cairo, Red Sea, South Sinai and Luxor governorates.
The Egyptian government will offer financial incentives totaling 50 billion Egyptian pounds ($1.042 billion) to encourage companies in the hotel industry to expand hotel capacity and cater to the growing number of tourists flocking to the country.
Experts estimate that each 15,000 additional hotel rooms could increase value-added tax by 1 billion Egyptian pounds ($20.8 million) to 2 billion Egyptian pounds ($41.7 million), as well as commercial taxes and industrial profits by 2 billion Egyptian pounds ($41.7 million). The expansion is also expected to create around 45,000 new job opportunities directly and indirectly, boosting the labor market.
According to a report by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), Egypt’s tourism sector is expected to increase its contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) to about 988 billion Egyptian pounds ($20.58 billion) in 2024, accounting for 8.1 percent of the country’s economy.
According to Ghada Shalaby, deputy minister of tourism, there are currently about 5,000 hotel rooms on the north coast and Egypt aims to double that number in the near future.
“The ministry is also preparing a plan to leverage and manage museums through collaboration with the private sector to maximize the benefits for museums,” Fathi said at the fourth meeting of a special committee set up to review the new government’s policy statements. He highlighted ongoing efforts to reform structures for inclusive governance as part of the action plan.
