Mubasher: The hotel market in Egypt has witnessed a bounce-back in the tourism sector that pushed the hotel market in the country to register a significant growth in 2018 when compared to the previous year.
Government-led marketing schemes, new infrastructure, and improved security measures have endorsed the tourism segment in Egypt, resulting in a 16.5% increase to the country’s tourism market in 2018, the World Travel and Tourism Council said, according to a recent research ‘Egypt Hotel Market Spotlight’ by Savills.
In 2018, the number of overseas visitors to Egypt enlarged by 40% to 11.6 million from the 8.3 million arrivals in 2017.
Travel and tourism are major economic drivers in the country, providing employment to surpassing 2.5 million people and constituting close to 11% of the Egyptian gross domestic product (GDP), according to Savills, the Middle East’s leading real estate services provider.
The country’s overall GDP is expected to increase on average of 5.35% per annum to 2023, backed by the tourism sector’s recovery, as well as political stability and a more robust economic outlook.
Egypt has implemented a new strategy to boost its tourism sector; this included new security protocols and the re-opening of flight connections to major source markets such as Russia and Eastern Europe. Savills believes that such connectivity will continue to improve, with two new airports set to open in the coming two year.
Savills’ Head of Egypt Catesby Langer-Paget commented, “After a few challenging years, the figures for the hospitality market in Egypt are really encouraging and with Cairo and the Red Sea back on the radar for international tourists, as well as the huge potential that the North Coast provides, the current time provides the perfect opportunity for international investors to take advantage.”
