Ghada Shalaby: the stability of the Egyptian destination attracts investors to the tourism sector, especially hotel investment
Tarek Shoukry: road development projects are at the heart of tourism growth, and the shift of tourism investment to the North Coast has raised land prices to EGP 20,000 per square meter
The shift toward holiday homes helps achieve the state's target of reaching 500,000 hotel rooms
Parliament discussing cutting the time needed to register property ownership for foreigners to 45 days
Hala El Khatib: roads make it easier for tourists to move between tourist cities, increasing their length of stay in Egypt
Ayman Hegazy: there are challenges facing bank financing for tourism projects, and stimulating investment in green hotels is necessary and attractive
The first session of the “500KR Hospitality” conference, titled “Shaping the Future of Hotel Investment and Tourism Development in Egypt” and moderated by former Deputy Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ghada Shalaby, stressed that achieving the state's target of 500,000 hotel rooms by 2030 requires diversifying tourism investment types, moving toward holiday homes and continuing to develop road projects, especially those linking Egyptian tourist cities, as well as examining the challenges of bank financing for tourism projects.
For his part, Eng. Tarek Shoukry, Head of the Economic Committee of the House of Representatives and Head of the Real Estate Development Chamber at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, stressed that tourism investments in some areas have contributed to rising land prices in general, citing as an example how the move of Gulf and Egyptian tourism investors to the North Coast caused the price per square meter to jump from EGP 750 to EGP 20,000.
Shoukry praised the developments Egypt has seen in the road sector, which raised its ranking from 118th to 18th place, adding that Egypt's quality and notable growth in road and bridge projects are at the heart of the tourism sector's growth, as they make it easier and safer for tourists to move between tourist cities and archaeological sites.
Shoukry explained that real estate in Egypt is an attractive export sector, as property prices in Egypt are still attractive to foreigners compared with global prices, revealing that investment returns from real estate exports have reached USD 2 billion, compared with only USD 250 million a few years ago.
He noted that the biggest challenge facing real estate exports is the lengthy procedure for registering property ownership for foreigners, announcing that parliament is discussing cutting it to just 40 to 45 days, because foreigners are not familiar with informal contracts.
Tarek Shoukry stressed the importance of moving toward holiday homes, praising the recent decision by the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities to regulate them, as they are the quick solution for increasing tourism investment and achieving the state's plan to reach 500,000 hotel rooms, noting that traditional hotel investments take a long time and are costly, while holiday homes or serviced apartments can add 40,000 to 50,000 rooms a year to the current capacity of around 250,000 rooms.
In a related context, former Deputy Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ghada Shalaby stressed that the promotional momentum Egypt is seeing, not through traditional means but through events that have caught the world's attention, is a strong attraction and incentive for tourism investment. French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to Alexandria and his tours had a major impact and provided huge tourism promotion for the Egyptian destination, as did the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) summit held aboard a cruise ship sailing through the Suez Canal, and the visits participants from around the world made to archaeological sites and museums, confirming the safety and stability of the Egyptian state and thus attracting tourists and investors to this sector.
In her speech, Hala El Khatib, Executive Director of the Egyptian Tourism Federation, said developing road projects helps increase tourists' length of stay, as it helps them travel between different Egyptian tourist cities easily and safely, serving various tourism types by linking beach and archaeological cities, and the quality of the road sector also helps raise the global rating of the Egyptian destination, as roads are among the main infrastructure elements used to rate tourist destinations.
She noted that the stability Egypt enjoys attracts investors, and that President El-Sisi's efforts to emphasize the safety and stability of the Egyptian state are among the main attractions for international and local investors alike, enabling them to work according to a clear plan that encourages them to decide to invest their money in this activity. She pointed out that tourism is not a fragile industry but a sensitive one, as it is the most affected by any development in events.
On financing tourism projects, Ayman Hegazy, representing the banking sector, said there are challenges facing the financing of the tourism sector, noting that what motivates tourism investors is not only the interest rate but also the owner's experience in managing the hotel, as well as the seasonal nature of the activity, which differs from city to city, and banks must understand these two points. He noted that EGP 48 billion of the EGP 50 billion initiative allocated to support the tourism sector under specific conditions has been used, explaining that the loan recovery period in tourism is longer than in real estate development. He added that banks are wary of financing floating hotel projects because they are more affected than fixed hotels and are seasonal, and owners of these hotels should increase their operations.
Hegazy proposed increasing investment in green hotels, noting that they will be attractive for obtaining financing support from international institutions targeting clean energy, stressing the recommendation to move toward green hotels and focus on hotel units and ecotourism because their conditions are easier.
This came on the sidelines of the “500KR Hospitality Conference”, which runs until 13 May under the auspices of the Ministry of Housing, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority, organized by Events and Horouf Group, alongside the 12th edition of the Cafex & Hotelier Expo.
