By Akram Medhat
Hossam El-Shaer, Chairman of the Chamber of Tourism Companies, said that in coordination with the Egyptian Tourism Federation, strict penalties have been approved for companies that sell tour programs with a price-dumping policy, that is, below the cost of the program's components, in order to confront this phenomenon, which affects Egypt's tourism reputation and reduces competitive opportunities among companies operating in the same tourism market. This circular is to be distributed to tourism companies so they can avoid being subjected to the prescribed penalties.
El-Shaer added in press statements that as soon as the chamber receives a complaint from a competing company in the same tourism market against another that has dumped prices, an investigation will be conducted with the company running the program, detailing its components to determine its real cost, including hotel accommodation, transfers, visits and other program components.
El-Shaer explained that the prescribed penalties are graduated, starting with a warning and a pledge, then suspending the tourism company's dealings with the chamber if the complaint is repeated, while in the final stage the matter is escalated by submitting a recommendation to the Ministry of Tourism to apply Article 9 of the law and cancel the company's license.
