< /p> The financial crisis in Europe, primarily in Germany, the deteriorating economic situation and political tensions are seriously affecting the low tourist season in Egypt. As a result, the occupancy of hotels in Hurghada has collapsed unprecedentedly and sharply. As Sameh Hovaydak, a member of the Red Sea Investors Association, told local media, the number of tourists in Hurghada has now dropped by 25 to 30%. We are talking about the period from the beginning of January to the present.
He noted that Hurghada is primarily dependent on incoming tourist traffic from Europe, especially from Germany and the Scandinavian countries, as well as from Russia and Ukraine. As a result, the deteriorating economic situation, plus an acute political crisis, led to a decrease in the number of tourists from almost all major markets.
However, Mr. Khovaydak expects that the situation will begin to improve by mid-March and occupancy will increase. In the meantime, he has made an appeal to the Tourism Promotion Authority, stating the need to intensify promotion in the European market, especially in the east and west, including the UK, Germany and Poland. Also, according to him, participation in all major tourism exhibitions in Europe is necessary in order to attract the maximum possible number of tourists.
He also said that tourism is still trying to “recover” after the pandemic, which was also superimposed on the consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the economic crisis. As a result, tourism needs “government support, continuous investment and joint coordination” in order to “restore incoming traffic to pre-coronavirus levels.”
Khovaydak also emphasized that beach tourism currently accounts for 85% of incoming traffic to Egypt, so you should pay the main attention to it. However, Egypt can provide other areas of tourism. In particular, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities organized a study visit for a number of representatives of major tour operators from the main tourist markets in Egypt, including Germany, England, France, Poland, Switzerland and Spain, in order to familiarize them with the “tourist-archaeological” potential of Egypt. According to Amr El-Kadi, Director General of Egypt's General Directorate of Tourism Development, this study visit was “as part of the ministry's efforts to attract more tourists to Egypt from various tourism markets.”
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