PHOTO
23.6% increase in Egypt's 2014 tourism revenues holds promise for positive sector forecast this year with US$ 5.3 billion-worth of tourism projects currently taking shape
Egypt's resurgent tourism sector, boosted by a 23.6% increase in tourism revenues last year, new tourism projects worth US$ 5.3 billion, allied with its unrivaled heritage, ancient tombs and Pyramids, will no doubt participate with renewed confidence at this year's Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2015.
Egyptian exhibitors showcasing their products at ATM 2015, which takes place at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre on 4-7 May, include Egypt Express Travel, Al-Tayyar Travel Group, Dana Tours and Standard Tours Online, supported by international hotel chain presence at corporate stands across the show floor.
According to Egypt's Tourism Minister, Hisham Zaazou, the country registered a 4.5% increase in inbound tourist numbers in 2014, with 10 million arrivals compared to 9.55 million in 2013. Tourism revenues also rose year-on-year by 23.6%, an increase of US$7.5 billion, up from US$5.9 billion in 2013.
"Tourism is Egypt's second most vital income generator and employs over 12% of the population, so these figures are particularly welcome after a difficult few years and the highs of 2010. The ATM team is working in tandem with the country's proactive tourism sector to identify opportunities for healthy, sustained growth and we look forward to showcasing Egypt's cultural diversity at this year's show," said Nadege Noblet, Exhibition Manager of Arabian Travel Market.
Tourism spend is also on the increase, with Zaazou confirming that the average amount spent per tourist per night rose from US$72 to US$80.1 during H2 2014, and this is good news for tourism development, with MEED Intelligence noting US$5,268 million-worth of investment in the country's current top 10 list of projects.
This is led by the US$1,653 million Emaar Misr Marassi Beach Resort project. Located on the country's north coast, close to the historic city of El Alamein, the 6.5 million-square-metre development will feature a luxury resort, residential community, 18-hole golf course and six kilometre-long private beach.
Emaar Misr is also developing the US$820 million Cairo Gate Mall while the UAE's Al Futtaim Group is responsible for the US$500 million Al Maza City Centre project and MAF's US$400 million Mall of Egypt.
Investment into Egypt's cultural heritage is being spearheaded by the Ministry of Antiquities, which is moving forward with its US$810 million phase three-development plans for the Grand Egyptian Museum.
Outside of Cairo, Luxor will have a US$120 million Four Seasons Hotel while Marsa Alam will be home to Tabarak Holding's US$150 million Fantasia Resort.
According to the MEED data, the line-up of projects planned or underway in Egypt includes a total of nine hotels and resorts and seven malls/shopping centres.
Looking at outbound travel and domestic tourism, and in terms of technology, Egypt unlike other destinations in the MENA region, does not play as big a role in the decision-making process with direct bookings via local offices or telephone the preferred channel in Egypt.
"However the transition to online is already happening with 41% of Egypt's leisure travellers booking more than half their trips online over the last 12 months, as per YouGov findings. This is a remarkable turn of events in an equally remarkable space of time and Egyptian exhibitors at ATM 2015 will definitely benefit from the wide-ranging sessions on offer as part of our Tech Theatre schedule," said Noblet.
Demand for luxury travel options is also growing, with 44% of YouGov survey respondents reporting staying at a four-star or above hotel during their last leisure trip.
"Egypt also has a well-established all-inclusive leisure tourism product and this is proving to have high appeal to Egyptian travellers with 76% likely to consider booking an all-inclusive luxury package; a figure even higher than that of respondents in the UAE and Kuwait," added Noblet.
The ATM seminars return covering travel technology and other key industry issues such as luxury travel trends, business travel and aviation. Also returning are the visitor trails, helping visitors identify the specific travel sectors on the show floor including: family travel, budget travel, business travel, health & wellbeing, shopping, transportation, sports travel, cultural and heritage and adventure travel.
The 2015 event will build on the success of last year's edition with the announcement of an additional hall adding an additional 2,000 square metres of floor space as Reed Travel Exhibitions looks to add to its record-breaking achievements in 2014. Last year ATM saw total attendance increase by 12% with 33,000 participants, from more than 131 countries and business deals signed worth more than US$ 2.1 billion over the four days.
For more information on Arabian Travel Market 2015, please log on to: www.arabiantravelmarket.com
About Arabian Travel Market
In its 21st edition, Arabian Travel Market 2014, boasted more than 2,700 exhibitors and stand-sharers from 85 countries and attracted over 23,000 visitors from around the world.
www.arabiantravelmarket.com
Arabian Travel Market is part of Reed Travel Exhibition's WTM Portfolio of events, which also includes World Travel Market, World Travel Market Latin America and World Travel Market Africa.
www.wtmworld.com
WTM Portfolio
The World Travel Market Portfolio is comprised of the leading leisure travel events in the world; World Travel Market in London, WTM Latin America in Sao Paulo, WTM Africa in Cape Town and Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.
The WTM Portfolio's events are attended by the global travel and tourism industry's senior executives to conduct business deals and discover the latest research, insight and opinion.
In 2014, the WTM Portfolio facilitated around $7 billion in industry deals from negotiations between the more than 15,000 buyers, 9,500 exhibitors (1,500 main stand holders and 8,000 stand sharers) in attendance of its four events.
WTM is owned by the worldʼs leading events organiser Reed Exhibitions.
Reed Exhibitions
WTM Portfolio is part of Reed Travel Exhibitions, which is owned by the worldʼs leading events organiser Reed Exhibitions (RE).
In 2014, RE held more than 500 events in 40 countries bringing together more than six million people from around the world generating billions of dollars in business.
The YouGov Travel Oracle is an annual syndicated online study of consumer habits and attitudes towards travel and tourism. YouGov surveyed 22,686 online respondents across the MENA region between 7th August and 8th September 2014. Data is broadly representative of the population in MENA.
Media contact:
Nathalie Viselé
Director
Shamal Marketing Communications
PO Box 502701
Office 106, Arjaan Office Tower
Dubai Media City
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Office: +971 4 3652711
Direct : +971 4 3652712
Mobile : +971 50 4576525
Fax:+971 4 4278703
E-mail: nathalie@smc-pr.com
Website: www.smc-pr.com
© Press Release 2015
