Priced at 1,500 pounds for 5 days on a 5-star Nile cruise, full board including site visits
Strong interest from hotels and companies in domestic tourism offers to make up for the slump
Trips south to the two cities richest in antiquities in the world, Luxor and Aswan, are no longer just secondary trips but have become core programs for Egyptians during the winter, particularly next season, which is concentrated in the period from December 1 to mid-February, especially during the mid-year school holiday.
This notable growth in Egyptians' bookings and demand for these trips is due to tourism companies' interest in organizing domestic tourism programs targeting them. With cultural tourism suffering from a decline in foreign tourists since the January 2011 revolution, floating and fixed hotels have been offering special competitive and attractive prices suited to the economic situation of Egyptian citizens, reaching 1,500 pounds in 5-star floating hotels, full board, for 5 days. On the government side, the Ministry of Tourism, represented by the Tourism Promotion Authority, began launching initiatives and providing financial support for them to boost domestic tourism to these cities from the end of 2014.
In this context, Moataz Sedky, general manager of Travco Holidays, said that domestic tourism is seasonal and linked to university and school holidays and public holidays, which noticeably raises demand for a number of cities depending on the climate of each region.
He told Travel Yalla that there is strong demand from Egyptians for trips to Luxor and Aswan during the coming winter tourist season, to the point that the season has shifted from mere offers to make up for losses and stir the slump to being subject to the market mechanisms of "supply and demand", as hotels set accommodation prices according to the timing of the booking, with the "weekend" of Thursday, Friday and Saturday priced higher than midweek, which has regular prices.
Sedky expected that the problem tourism companies will face amid the heavy demand is the lack of a sufficient number of floating hotels to organize Nile cruises between the two cities, as a large number of them have stopped operating amid weak inbound tourist traffic since the January 2011 revolution.
He noted that Egyptians book their trips two weeks or 10 days in advance, given the availability of offers and the competition among companies and hotels to attract Egyptians, pointing to strong demand from families and stressing that "you can earn a lot from the Egyptian customer".
He explained that direct online bookings with hotels, without a tourism company, do not differ much from companies' offers, but the latter have the advantage of putting together a "package" that includes accommodation, travel, and leisure and sea trips, at much better prices than traveling individually.
For his part, tourism expert Tharwat Agamy, former head of the Chamber of Tourism Companies in Luxor, said that floating hotels are currently preparing for Egyptians' bookings during the coming winter season, which have already begun to see strong demand, with actual bookings made for trips from December 1 to mid-February on about 40 boats that operate Nile cruises between the two cities ("Nile Cruise").
He attributed this to the interest of tourism companies and floating hotels in domestic tourism for Egyptians and to offering them attractive and suitable prices, which will not rise noticeably compared with last year. The average price for the 5-star category is 250 pounds per night, full board including site visits, reaching up to 300 pounds, while the 4-star category ranges between 200 and 250 pounds.
He pointed to Egyptians' demand for 5-star hotels, especially floating hotels followed by fixed ones, noting that lowering prices certainly affects service quality, but Egyptians' economic situation does not allow for high tourist prices, with the average total cost of a 5-day/4-night "Nile Cruise" trip at about 1,500 pounds.
"Egypt in Our Hearts" Needs Adjusting
On the other hand, the general manager of Travco Holidays said that the success, or continued failure, of the "Egypt in Our Hearts" initiative launched by the Tourism Promotion Authority depends on whether its traditional and monopolistic management style continues, restricting companies' dealings to two companies, EgyptAir Tourism "Karnak" and Misr Travel, as well as on choosing cities according to the season rather than randomly. This is what happened when it failed in Luxor and Aswan by continuing in the previous phase until the end of September, "in the height of the heat", in addition to companies and hotels not taking part in its traditional advertising campaign.
Tharwat Agamy agreed with him about the failure of that initiative and the hotels' non-participation in it because its timing was unsuitable, given the high temperatures in the south, which no one can bear, especially on a leisure trip. He expected the initiative to fare much better in its coming phase during the winter season, in addition to avoiding the mistake of monopoly, after the Tourism Promotion Authority announced, as Travel Yalla reported earlier, that it was opening the door for tourism companies to take part and not restricting bookings under the initiative to Karnak and Misr Travel.
