CAIRO: The occupancy rate of Egypt’s hotels, which are operating at half capacity because of COVID-19 guidelines, was between 40 % and 45 % within the first quarter, an official from the tourism ministry informed news agency on Sunday.
This amounts to an occupancy rate of nearly 25 % if hotels were running at full capacity, according to Reuters calculations.
Tourism accounts for up to 15 % of Egypt’s national output and is a key source of foreign currency. The industry revenues plunged 70 % in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, with numbers of visitors sinking to 3.5 million from 13.1 million in 2019.
Egypt received 500,000 tourists in the first three months of 2021 and earned tourism revenues of between $600 million and $800 million, deputy tourism minister Ghada Shalabi stated earlier this month.
The nation shut hotels in March 2020 as a part of measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, however reopened them just a few months later with a limited capacity. Hotels currently have capacity capped at 50 % in line with health regulations.
The hotel occupancy rate was 25 % in January, then increased to 30 % in February, before jumping to 45 % in March, Egypt’s Pink Sea province noticed the very best resort occupancy in Q1, adopted Sharm El-Sheikh within the Southern Sinai province, the official added.
