Domestic Tourists Fill Egypt’s Reopened Hotels

Local holidaymakers have quickly filled freshly-reopened Egyptian hotels as the country's coronavirus cases continue to rise.

  • By webmaster | May 31, 2020,1:18 pm
Domestic Tourists Fill Egypt's Reopened Hotels

Select Egyptian hotels have reopened to domestic tourists since May 15, with occupancy capped at 25% to try and revive the nation’s large and struggling tourism industry. The plan appears to be working and the hotels are nearly at full occupancy, according to one official.

The first stage of Egypt’s plan to kick-start its tourism sector, hard hit by the coronavirus crisis, is proving a success despite the country’s recent spike in new cases. An anonymous tourism ministry official told Reuters that the 78 hotels licensed to reopen are currently operating at 20-22% occupancy.

The hotels permitted to reopen are mainly along Egypt’s Red Sea coast, popular with local and international visitors, but some city hotels such as the Helnan Palestine, the Hilton, and the Four Seasons have also reopened in Alexandria but with a 10% occupancy cap. Another 173 hotels have also applied to reopen and will find out if they are permitted to do so this week.  

If hotels can respect the 25% occupancy limit and safety controls like keeping workers onsite for 60 days and COVID-19 testing, permissible occupancy rates will increase to 50%, Chairman of the Alexandria Chamber of Tourism Ali al-Manesterly told Egypt Independent on May 29. 

“If the hotel does not adhere to regulations, however, their license will be revoked and the hotel will be unable to receive guests,” Manesterly said.

International flights to Egypt have been suspended since March, and authorities have not outlined when and under what conditions foreign tourists will be permitted to return. In the meantime, Egyptians seem to be making the most of the newly opened hotels and they are nearing capacity, according to an official.

The Egyptian government and tourism operators are keen to get the sector back up and running post-COVID-19, the latest blow to an industry marred in recent years by terrorism attacks and the 2011 revolution.  

The industry was geared for a big year in 2020 as the security situation continues to improve and the country’s long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum was scheduled to open its doors to the public in October 2020. Despite struggling to stay on foreign tourists’ radars, the sector contributes around 15% of GDP and is an important source of foreign currency for Egypt.

On Friday, Egypt chalked up the grim milestone of recording over 1000 new cases of COVID-19 in 24 hours. The country has recorded 23,449 cases and 913 deaths from COVID-19 to date.

Read also: Egypt’s COVID-19 Outbreak Intensifies

Related Articles

COVID-19 Aviation: Job Cuts, Social Distancing, Cabin Crews in Full PPE
COVID-19 Aviation: Job Cuts, Social Distancing, Cabin Crews in Full PPE

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated travel restrictions have hit the airline industry hard. The pain deepened further today for employees of Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways after it announced significant redundancies “across several areas.” Meanwhile, long-haul competitor Qatar Airways announced cabin crews would begin wearing full personal protective (PPE) gear to protect and reassure passengers as the pandemic wears on.

Aid to Yemen Evaporates as COVID-19 Outbreak Rages On
Aid to Yemen Evaporates as COVID-19 Outbreak Rages On

“Tragically, we do not have enough money to continue this work,” the heads of 17 organizations representing the international humanitarian community said in a statement issued on Thursday. 

UN: Without International Support, Yemen ‘Will Fall off the Cliff’
UN: Without International Support, Yemen ‘Will Fall off the Cliff’

“There is a stark choice before the world today: support the humanitarian response in Yemen and help to create the space for a sustainable political solution,” the UN aid chief said. “Or watch Yemen fall off the cliff.” 

Sirous Asgari spoke out in March about the threat of coronavirus in Ice detention.
Iranian FM: US Deports Jailed Iranian Professor

The 59-year-old scientist is now back in Iran with his family, according to an Instagram post by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.