The past eight years have not been kind to Egyptian tourism. The revolution in 2011 and the 2015 bombing of a Russian passenger jet hit the sector hard, and terror attacks — including a bus explosion in Giza in May — have continued. However, despite these setbacks, investors, hotel?operators and tourists are flocking to the North African country with renewed optimism.
The Egyptian hospitality market is seeing an uplift across all performance metrics, with a hefty number of keys set to come online over the next few years. According to a survey by W Hospitality Group earlier this year, Egypt has 15,158 rooms in 51 new hotels in the development pipeline, leading the African continent in number of keys.
There has been huge activity by the chains in Egypt, with over 2,000 new rooms signed in 2017, and a further 4,500 in 2018, of which 1,850 were by Radisson, according to W Hospitality’s Trevor Ward. “Accor has no fewer than 16 deals in Egypt, boosted by new brands from its acquisitions, including Mövenpick and Fairmont,” he says.
Contributed by Devina Divecha
David Harper, director of Leisure Property Services, says his group has recently noticed a trend toward branding new hotel developments. “When hotel trading is weak in a region, branded hotels tend to outperform non-branded hotels and add significant value,” he says.
Harper adds that Accor recently announced it will be operating a further 30 hotels — half of the operator’s entire Africa target — in Egypt in the next three years. “Radisson has formed a partnership with Zaghoul Holdings to develop a further six Radisson branded properties. Steigenberger will be opening three new resorts to go along with its existing 12 properties. Thomas Cook announced two new resorts were being built, in partnership with Orascom,” he says.
In addition to the brands Harper mentioned, IHG is also expanding its presence with five operational (2,167 rooms) properties across three brands, and a further four hotels (821 rooms) over the next three to five years. Bastien Blanc, vice president of operations MENA for IHG, says, “We recently debuted our new upscale brand, Voco, in Egypt with the signing of Voco Giza Pyramids. The hotel is due to open in 2022 and will be a part of a mixed-used development. We will also debut the Crowne Plaza brand next year with opening of Crowne Plaza Cairo Sheikh Zayed City.”
Blanc further says that the market supply is currently in line with demand, adding, “Egypt’s growing tourism numbers are indicative of a supply need. As the country’s arrival figures continue to grow, we are confident that the hospitality sector will flourish in the years to come.”
Another big operator invested in Egypt is Hilton, with 16 operational hotels and nine in the pipeline. Hilton’s area vice president for Egypt & North Africa Mohab Ghali says, “This year we are re-opening the Hilton Hurghada Plaza after an extensive renovation program, and we are progressing well with the renovation of the Heliopolis Towers hotel, which we are aiming to convert into a Waldorf Astoria, the first in Africa, at some point in the coming two years.”
Marriott is exercising its brand muscle and ranks Egypt in its top five markets for the Middle East and Africa in number of hotels. It currently operates 18 properties and more than 7,400 rooms across seven brands, and within the next three years will add four new properties and more than 1,200 rooms in the country, including the debut of The St. Regis brand.
Newcomers to Egypt
Ireland-headquartered boutique hotel operator Kerten Hospitality has identified Egypt as a key destination for expansion. CEO Marloes Knippenberg says its presence there includes eight hotels representing 2,350 guestrooms and serviced apartments. “They are all located in Il Monte Galala in Sokhna and Fouka Bay in Ras El Hekma, the two flagship projects of developer Tatweer Misr,” he adds.
This robust pipeline is a sign of renewed?investor confidence, according to a 2019 report by Colliers International, caused by positive performances in the market. “Overall, Egypt’s hospitality markets observed healthy and stable growth in 2018,” says Ahmad Yousry, manager, hospitality at Colliers International Egypt. “Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada markets in particular witnessed a 22% and 26% growth in occupancy versus the?previous year, respectively.” According to the report, Alexandria was the standout market in Q1 2019, up 10% in occupancy and 27% in ADR.
Looking at current data, Harper reports that 2019 is up strongly compared to 2018, already an improvement on previous years. He says occupancy levels across Egypt are up 11.1%, with Cairo up 6.8%, Hurghada up 4.1% and Sharm El Sheikh up 16.5%.
“That said, Sharm is still underperforming, with only just over 55% occupancy,” Harper adds.
Combined with a returning international market, including tourists who traveled to Egypt for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations through June and July, 2019 is expected to be another year of positive hotel performance. “Our forecast for 2019 is expected to be steady across all markets, driven by the more stable economic outlook,” Colliers’ Yousry says.
Marriott’s chief development officer for Middle East & Africa, Jerome Briet, tends to agree. “As a market, there is considerably more stability and optimism in Egypt than previous years. Business in the country has witnessed somewhat of a comeback; however, we believe the market has not reached its full potential yet.”