( 3 minutes read)
· Egyptian hotels are operating with a new reduced occupancyrate of 25% to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus
· Egypt shut down restaurants, hotels and cafes in order tocombat the pandemic along with suspension of international flights,which used to bring loads of tourists into the country
· In the meantime, talks are going on in the government circlesto increase the occupancy ratio to 50% in June
Egyptian hotels are operating with a new reduced occupancy rate of 25% to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. It is reported that they have almost reached full capacity at the reduced benchmark levels.
Egypt shut down restaurants, hotels and cafes in order to combat the pandemic along with suspension of international flights, which used to bring loads of tourists into the country. Airports remain closed except for domestic and repatriation flights. However, hotels were recently allowed to reopen at a quarter of their usual capacity subject to meeting strict health and safety protocols.
Reports indicate that around 78 hotels, mostly along the Red Sea coast, met these rules and are currently operating with an occupancy rate of 20%-22%. It is expected shortly an additional 173 hotels across the country will start operating. They have applied for license to reopen and will be considered in the coming week. In the meantime, talks are going on in the government circles to increase the occupancy ratio to 50% in June. Tourism accounts for 5% of GDP of Egypt and is a great source of employment to a large number of people. Among the African countries, Egypt has a higher incidence of Covid-19 cases so far at 23,449 including 913 deaths.
