Hind Mukhtar wrote on Tuesday, July 18, 2023 07:41 PM
Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister, held today at the government headquarters in the new city of El Alamein; a meeting To discuss the formulation of a future vision for the advancement of the tourism sector, and put forward scenarios for increasing hotel rooms, in cooperation with a group of tourism investors from the private sector; This was in the presence of Ahmed Eissa, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Ahmed El Wasif, President of the Egyptian Federation of Tourist Chambers, and a number of tourism investors.
The Prime Minister said: The aim of this meeting is to discuss formulating a future vision for the tourism sector, in light of the government’s keenness to listen to the visions and proposals of investors in this vital sector, with the aim of making a quantum leap in it.
Madbouly added: We have come a long way with the Ministry of Aviation. With the aim of providing the largest possible number of low-cost aircraft; To achieve the desired goals regarding increasing the number of incoming tourists, and this was a frequent demand from tourism investors.
He continued: We are currently working to increase the number of hotel rooms, which contributes to achieving the state’s goals to reach the number of 30 million tourists, which means an increase in the number of hotel rooms in numbers ranging from 40 thousand rooms to 50 thousand hotel rooms during the year, and over the course of 5 years. I wonder: Is the tourism sector capable of providing this number of hotel rooms, and do we have executive capabilities, regardless of the required facilities, which the state will provide?
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During the meeting, the Prime Minister explained one of the important goals of the high-speed rail network, which is to support tourism, whether the first line connects Ain Sukhna and Matrouh via New Alamein, or the second line connects Cairo, Aswan and Abu Simbel, or the third line connects Qena governorate with Madinaty. Hurghada and Safaga.
He added: We have a number of ideas to increase the number of hotel rooms, the first of which is the exploitation of government buildings that were vacated after moving to the new administrative capital, and converting them into hotels, especially ministries’ buildings, citing the example of the Ministries Square area in the center of the country, which can be converted into hotels, as is currently happening. At the headquarters of the Tahrir Complex.
Dr. Mostafa Madbouly added that the second idea is the state’s willingness to enter into a partnership with tourism investors, by agreeing that the state will undertake the construction of hotels on the state’s lands, while the investors will fully undertake the management and marketing, indicating that the construction will take place according to the designs submitted by the investors. And there will be a willingness to transfer ownership to investors for those who wish to do so later, according to a prior agreement.
And the Prime Minister continued: The third idea is the state’s current readiness for tourism investment in the Red Sea region, as Egypt owns a number of distinguished islands there, stressing the state’s endeavor to optimally exploit these islands for tourism, in cooperation with tourism investors.
Madbouly pointed out that these ideas aim to provide the largest number of hotel rooms, in the shortest possible time, to contribute to the previously mentioned traditional methods, which include investors obtaining lands and building hotels on them.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister noted the initiative to support the productive sectors, to which the tourism sector was included, and the allocation of EGP 10 billion to support this vital sector, given its role in enhancing the ability of the national economy to grow and achieve its goals.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister indicated that we have about 7 kilometers allocated for hotel investment in the new city of El Alamein, stressing that the state is working to speed up the development of this distinguished area, and is pursuing efforts to maximize its utilization.
During the meeting, Mr. Ahmed Al-Wasif thanked the government for the continuous support to the tourism sector, especially in light of the occurrence of several previous crises, indicating that the tourism sector can achieve the state’s goals, pointing out that work will be done on the presence of partners from abroad; With the aim of diversifying the tourism product.
Al-Wasif welcomed the idea of offering vacated government buildings for hotel investment, indicating that this offering will be studied with the sovereign fund, to agree on mechanisms suitable for investors in this regard.
The head of the Federation of Tourist Chambers also presented a number of challenges facing investors in this sector, whether related to financing or unifying fees imposed by government agencies, indicating that the investment incentives issued by the government in the recent period must be enjoyed by the tourism sector.
During the meeting, tourism investors praised what the Prime Minister put forward, pointing out that “we all must have before our eyes the goal of achieving 3 million tourists, during the next few years, and then there must be unprecedented facilities in obtaining licenses, with an increase in associated service buildings.” Tourism activity, with an emphasis on the need for foreign investors, because it is competition that creates quality.
Tourist investors praised the infrastructure projects being established by the state, which contribute to increasing tourism investment opportunities.
They also emphasized that the new city of El Alamein is a strategic place that can accommodate about 30,000 hotel rooms, and that, for their part, they are ready to propose a partnership mechanism with the state.
Tourist investors mentioned that there are troubled hotels, whether in Sharm el-Sheikh, Marsa Alam or Hurghada, that can be quickly entered into service, through acquisition mechanisms.
Investors expressed their readiness to operate a large number of hotels in the new city of El Alamein, starting next year, as the city has a very distinguished reputation.
During the meeting, the Minister of Tourism said: The state is greatly interested in the tourism industry, and this is the second meeting of the Prime Minister regarding this file during this week, which confirms the state’s keenness to support the sector.
He added that with regard to hotel rooms under construction, several committees have made rounds to count these rooms, and it has been monitored that there are about 15,000 rooms that will be opened in Sharm El-Sheikh and the Red Sea only within a year.
He pointed out that work is underway to prepare incentive packages for this sector, which, along with the availability of lands, will contribute to achieving our goals in the tourism sector.
The minister indicated that there are more than 23,000 closed hotel rooms nationwide, whether due to financial distress or otherwise, and coordination is currently taking place with the Central Bank. with a view to finding solutions in this regard.
At the end of the meeting, the Prime Minister asked the head of the Federation of Tourist Chambers to list any problem facing the tourism sector, indicating that special meetings for the tourism sector will be held in the Investor Problem Solving Unit of the Council of Ministers, with the aim of finalizing its solution.
He also clarified that the “golden license” will be granted to tourism projects, saying: “We are ready to receive any requests from you in this regard, provided that the golden license is issued in the event of completing the required documents within a maximum period of 20 days.”
2023-07-18 16:41:00
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