(Photo by Thoraia Abu Bakr)
Investments in 59 projects are expected to initially reach EGP 9bn by the end of the current fiscal year (FY) 2014/2015, according to Tourism Development Authority (TDA) Head Serag El-Din Saad.
According to Saad, the estimated costs for the projects are EGP 2.8bn, although the actual cost of the projects could reach EGP 9bn.
The Red Sea area is on top in number of projects approved by the TDA, with 52 projects on a land space of 9.5m sqm, followed by Ain Sokhna with six projects on a land area of 405,000 sqm.
Saad believes the TDA succeeded in taking advantage of the extra land spaces in some of the projects’ lands and offered them for sale to investors. This would increase the added value to these lands and double the income of the authority.
“These results led to a financial surplus worth EGP 258m to the Ministry of Finance for the current FY 2014/2015,” Saad said.
Saad expects the TDA’s income would increase by the end of FY 2014/2015 by EGP 600m, a growth of 30% compared to last year’s income.
The final allocation approvals for lands sent by TDA in FY 2013/2014 amounted to 26 approvals, with investments worth EGP 1.6bn, according to Saad.
The new projects in the Red Sea area vary between nine projects on a land area of 816,000 sqm, another three projects, and expansions on extra land spaces of 157,600 sqm. There are another two projects on extra land spaces of 33,000 sqm, as well as a project for expansion of road transport on a land area of 255,000 sqm, as per TDA head.
Hotel rooms which were included in the service amounted to roughly 1,600 rooms in the second quarter (Q2) of FY 2014/2015. Tourist housing units, on the other hand, amounted to 600 units.
The expected land areas which will be offered in the second half of FY 2014/2015 cover 12m sqm, with investments up to EGP 6bn distributed in the Red Sea area, Gulf of Suez, and the North Coast.
Saad added: “The North Coast and Gulf of Suez lands will be offered in coordination with the governorates, in order to guarantee the full development of the area and that the local community benefits from it.”
