Luxor tourism companies and hotels: Accommodation prices for Egyptians up 30% due to higher fuel costs
Price per person in a 5-star cabin ranges from EGP 600 to 800
By Akram Medhat
Domestic tourism for the winter season has entered the booking phase for trips to Luxor, the main destination for Egyptian travelers, especially during the mid-year school holiday. Tourism companies have begun contracting with floating hotels to promote their Nile cruise programs between Luxor and Aswan, some of which include visits to the most famous temples, such as Karnak, Luxor, Deir el-Bahari and Philae, among other monuments unique to these cities.
However, the upcoming winter season is marked by higher floating hotel prices for Egyptians, reaching 30%, due to the increase in fuel prices, fuel being the main component of boat operating costs.
In this context, Ramadan Hagagy, head of Viking Group for tourism and hotels, said that companies started contracting and taking bookings for domestic tourism early, given Egyptians' demand for Luxor during the winter season, especially during the mid-year school holiday, and to secure the best prices by booking early, as prices will rise by 30% compared with last season due to higher operating costs under the new fuel prices.
Hagagy explained to "Travel Yalla News" that the average price per person in a 5-star double cabin is about EGP 700 per night, and EGP 450 at the 4-star level, noting that floating hotels have split, with some focusing on domestic tourism and others on foreign tourism, as bookings rise from the main major markets targeted for cultural tourism.
Hany Youssef, chairman of "Planet Tours", confirmed to "Travel Yalla News" that tourism companies have actually started contracting to book floating hotels, especially for domestic tourism trips, which are concentrated in the mid-year school holiday in January.
Youssef noted that most of the floating hotels that are fit for operation and have been booked do not exceed 100 boats and are operating at about half capacity, so occupancy is expected to reach high rates.
He added that floating hotel prices for the Egyptian market have risen to offset higher operating costs, in addition to Egyptians' strong demand for Nile cruises in Luxor, especially during the mid-year school holiday, while a large number of hotels are not targeting Egyptian tourists after signs of a recovery in foreign tourism and have therefore changed their pricing policy to suit incoming tourism markets. This has led to higher accommodation prices in general, as the season of Egyptian arrivals is limited, starting in mid-December and ending at the end of February at the latest.
He explained that the price per person in a cabin at 5-star hotels ranged from EGP 350 to 500 last season, while prices under the new contracts now start at EGP 600 to 800. At the 4-star level, prices ranged between EGP 250 and 300, while they will be EGP 400 to 600 in the coming winter season.
For his part, Mohamed Osman, a member of the Luxor Tourism Marketing Committee, stressed the need to improve the quality of the trains carrying domestic tourists in terms of service and waiting stations, as they are in high demand given the rise in air ticket prices, so as to avoid any criticism or shortcomings at the start of the season with the arrival of a large number of tourists.
Osman explained that domestic tourism peaks during the mid-year school holiday, and many hotels have begun to target Egyptians primarily during the winter after recognizing their strength and the support they gave last season, but over the season as a whole foreign tourism will dominate as its bookings rise.
He added that floating hotel prices will rise by the same percentage as the fuel price increase approved last July, as boats rely on diesel, whose price rose by 30%.
