Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou visited Luxor, Monday, to meet with tourism workers and follow up on hotel occupancy rates before the start of the Egyptian tourism promotional campaign in October.
Ministry sources said the aim of Zaazou’s visit comes within the framework of coordination with the Egyptian Federation of Tourist Chambers and Chamber of Hotels before the promotional campaign’s launch.
The Ministry of Tourism is planning to allocate 25% of the first year of the campaign’s cost to promoting Luxor and Aswan, to increase the occupancy rates in the region.
JWT will begin the promotion campaign in October, according to a ministry official, who added that the date will not change due to the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Hotel capacity in Luxor and Aswan has increased to 21,000 rooms spread over 17,000 rooms in floating hotels and 4,000 rooms in on-land hotels.
Tharwat El-Agamy, Chairman of the Chamber of Tourism Companies and Agencies in Upper Egypt, said the average occupancy rate in the region’s hotels does not exceed 5%. He added he hoped for the rates to increase during the next winter season with the Ministry of Tourism’s efforts.
The Ministry of Tourism has been coordinating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to follow up on the status of foreign tourism agencies, after the deaths of Mexican tourists in the Western Desert earlier this month.
The Ministry of Tourism, according to a ministry official, is working to keep Egypt’s tourism income stable at $7.3bn until the end of this year.
