Responding to a campaign initiated by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh applied a 25% discount rate on their charges per available room to attract both foreign and Egyptian tourists.
After the 25% discount rate, a garden room view at Concorde El-Salam goes for EGP 750 per night. The room is all inclusive with three daily meals. An all inclusive room with a sea view for an Egyptian would cost EGP 1,150 per night.
“We just applied those offers following what happened [with the Russian plan],” a representative from the hotel reservation office said. “These discounted rates are expected to remain until February”.
Currently, reserving a room between 18 and 22 November at Royal Savoy Sharm El-Sheikh would go for EGP 4,444. During the same period, a room at Savoy hotel would cost EGP 888 while a room at Sierra hotel would cost EGP 1, 121.
The prices at Royal Savoy Sharm El-Sheikh recently went down. A representative from the hotel said that a new offer for Egyptians can be expected within a week.
Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou issued a statement on Thursday in which he announced the launch of a campaign to revive tourism in Sharm El-Sheikh. The campaign entitled “Sharm El-Sheikh in our hearts” will start on Sunday and continue until the end of April 2016. The minister will head to the touristic spot on Tuesday to follow up on the situation.
On 10 November, Zaazou expressed his confidence in the recovery of the tourism industry in Egypt, adding that the Red Sea hotels are operating as usual.
Earlier this month, a Russian charter plane crashed in Sinai, killing all 224 people on board. Since the crash, tourism in Sharm El-Sheikh has taken a massive hit, with UK and Russian tourists fleeing after the announcement of travel bans from their home countries.
Russian tourism accounts for about 35% of total inbound traffic to Egypt annually. Last year, Russians accounted for the largest share of tourists visiting Egypt, with 3.1m Russians.
Tourism workers expressed their concerns about the negative impacts of the Russian plane crash for Christmas bookings. There are about seven to ten booking cancellations from the European market per day, which can amount to 60% to 70% by the end of the month.
For foreigners, a sea view bed and breakfast reservation costs $160 per night. A half board reservation would increase the price by $24 to reach $184 while a full board reservation costs $204.
Hyatt Regency Sharm El-Sheikh offers EGP 700 per night per room for Egyptians, including breakfast and dinner. For foreigners a room costs $128 and includes breakfast only.
The promotion has also been implemented by Four Seasons hotel with the room for both Egyptians and foreigners starting at $240, including breakfast and transportation from and to the airport. A basic sea view room goes for EGP 278, while a room with a better view costs EGP 315.
