Hotels in the most popular Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in the high autumn tourist season will have to reduce the capacity of the room stock by about a third. The reason is the needs of the International Climate Conference, which will be held in Sharm el-Sheikh from 3 to 21 November. In theory, this could lead to a shortage of places and an increase in the price of tours.
However, as Egyptian experts commented on ATOR, in the current difficult international situation, for accurate forecasts, two questions need to be clarified – what will happen to Russian charters in the fall and how justified the ambitions of the conference participants are. Any prediction about this right now is clearly premature.
The official information from the Ministry of Tourism of Egypt is as follows: the department has obliged all hotels in the resort to allocate 33% of the rooms per event, and for the entire period, i.е. period from 3 to 21 November. And we are talking about all types of hotels. Prices are also known: a room in a 5* hotel for breakfast will cost $500 per night for climate conference participants, in a 4* hotel – $350, in a 3* hotel – $200, in a 2* hotel – $120. The supplement for accommodation of guests with all-inclusive meals in 5 * hotels will be $ 50 per day, in 4 * hotels – $ 40 per day. A curiosity, but even hotels that are currently closed for non-compliance with sanitary standards and pandemic safety were included in the list. Participants of the climate event will book rooms within the hotel quota through a special platform.
As for the ambitions of the organizers, delegations from as many as 120 countries are expected at the resort. And, of course, the authorities of Sharm el-Sheikh and the country as a whole expect in this way to promote the resort as a business and conference tourism destination. Therefore, a whole range of measures is planned to improve the quality of recreation in South Sinai with an emphasis on ecology and technological services.
Egyptian experts from the host companies confirmed the receipt of the order by ATOR. But how this is implemented in practice is still impossible to predict. It all depends on the availability of Russian charters – and how justified the ambitions of the conference organizers. According to the estimates of the host companies, the 33% quota is more of a reinsurance character and the whole may not be selected. In addition, if Russian charters fly en masse, then Russian tourists will be in priority. “It is possible that the Egyptian authorities will reduce the quota from the declared 33% of the room stock, for example, to 25-20%, or exclude hotels from the list of hotels that are most focused on Russian tourists,” this is the first proposed scenario.
It is quite possible – this is the second scenario – that the organizers greatly exaggerate the relevance and mass nature of the conference. “The grandiose plans to attract more than 100 countries may not be implemented, in this case the quota will be minimized or completely canceled. In addition, it is not a fact that foreign participants of the conference will massively book hotels of 2* and 3* categories: rather, their interests will focus on 4 and 5* category objects,” the Egyptian host companies estimated. This will be clear, however, only by November.
And, finally, the third scenario is for pessimists, which means that Sharm el-Sheikh hotels will comply with the quota by the beginning of November and withdraw a third of the room stock from free sale in favor of the climate event until November 21. As a result, a shortage of places and a rise in price are still possible. But in our unpredictable reality, hoteliers categorically advise to wait until November.
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