The Chamber of Tourist Establishments and Restaurants has praised the response to its demands to equalize tourist establishments and restaurants with their counterparts licensed by local authorities in the fees set by the Ministry of Interior for the CCTV surveillance system.
The Chamber explained in a statement that it received an official letter from Mohamed Amer, Head of the Central Department of Hotel Establishments, Shops and Tourism Activities, stating that, as part of the continuous coordination and cooperation between the Central Department and the Chamber, and in view of many complaints from tourist establishments and restaurants about the high fees required by security directorates to install surveillance cameras compared with the fees applied to establishments licensed by local administration, coordination took place with the Ministry of Interior to examine this demand.
It stated that approval was given to apply the same service fee set for establishments licensed by the Ministry of Local Development to tourist establishments and restaurants licensed by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, as follows:
First-time inspection: EGP 100 per camera
Annual renewal: EGP 20 per camera
The Chamber's efforts, in coordination with the Ministries of Tourism and Antiquities and Interior and the Federation of Tourist Chambers, also resulted in a special security code for camera specifications and numbers.
The Chamber of Tourist Establishments and Restaurants stressed in its statement that applying the security video monitoring system is at the top of its priorities, alongside the quality of tourism services provided to its customers, recognizing that security stability and crime reduction are among the most important factors guiding tourists when choosing their holiday destinations.
The Chamber stressed that tourist establishments and restaurants have never objected to complying with security controls or installing surveillance cameras, but were among the first supporters of the modern security system, out of their responsibility towards Egypt's guests and their keenness to support the image of the Egyptian destination as safe and stable.
The Chamber noted that its demand for equal fees with restaurants and establishments under local authorities is based on the fact that the activity is essentially the same, differing only in the supervising and licensing authority and in tourism grade ratings, which does not justify differences in the fees for a security service with a single goal.
The Chamber concluded its statement by stressing that the decision reflects the state's keenness to achieve fairness among the various entities working in the sector and support the tourism investment climate, helping strengthen the competitiveness of Egyptian tourist establishments and the sustainability of the sector's growth.
