Arab News, Saturday, Sep 12, 2020 | Muharram 24, 1442
Abu Dhabi-based tourism business to modernize three hotels in Egypt
Emirates: Abu Dhabi Tourism Investment Company (ADTIC) has
announced plans to refurbish its three hotels in Egypt. It is part of a strategy
designed to help the business cash in on the major post-pandemic recovery it
expects in the country’s tourism sector.
ADTIC’s portfolio in Egypt includes three hotels, rated at four and five stars,
in Cairo, Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh. The company, in which government agency
the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) has an 84.3 percent stake, also owns
99.3 percent of the shares in Misr Hotels Company, which owns a five-star resort
in Luxor.
Mohamed Saif Al-Suwaidi, director general of ADFD and chairman of the board of
directors of ADTIC, said he expects great activity in the Egyptian tourism
sector when air travel returns to normal after the pandemic and tourists start
to return.
“We chose this time in which the tourism movement is witnessing a decline, and
so are hotel occupancy rates in most countries of the world, to rehabilitate
hotel facilities in preparation for receiving visitors for the post-coronavirus
phase and the return of tourist and economic activity,” he said.
ADTIC CEO Haitham Farouk said that the strategic locations of the hotels, and
their ability to generate high levels of revenue, make investing in them
feasible, especially with the expectations of growth in the sector after the
pandemic. He added that there will be an increased emphasis on electronic
transactions and processing procedures at the hotels to ensure that physical
contact is reduced as much as possible, especially in the early stages of the
recovery.
He added that the development and modernization of hotel facilities, making use
of the latest technologies, digital transformation and other services, will help
ADTIC keep pace with the global tourism industry. The changes will increase
hotel occupancy rates and have a positive affect on Egypt’s tourism revenues, he
added. He expects the main stages of development and modernization to be
completed during the second half of 2021.
The tourism and hospitality industry in Egypt is one of the main sources of
national income. It contributed revenue of $13 billion in 2019, an 18 percent
increase on the previous year.