Eleven more Egyptian hotels have secured the new hygiene safety certificate required to reopen in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, bringing the total open nationwide to 110, the tourism and antiquities ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The 11 new hotels are located in Alexandria, Suez and South Sinai. They include the Plaza Hotel Alexandria, Paradise Inn Le Metropole Hotel, San Giovanni Stanly Hotel and Steigenberger Cecil Alexandria in the Mediterranean city. In Suez, the hotels which have secured the new hygiene certificate are Ain Sokhna's Stella Di Mare Golf Hotel, the Stella Di Mare Sea Club Hotel, and the Retal View Resort El Sokhna. South Sinai's Marina Sharm El-Sheikh Hotel, Hyatt Regency Sharm El Sheikh Resort, Coral Sea Holiday Resort and Hilton Sharks Bay Resort have also been granted the certificate. The new regulations require hotels to reduce occupancy rates to 50 percent and implement a range of hygiene procedures, including regular disinfection. Hotels are not permitted to hold parties, weddings, or overnight activities. Their restaurants can only serve pre-set menus, as buffet services are banned, and dining tables should be set at a safe distance to reduce the risk of virus transmission. The 110 hotels that have secured the new certificate were inspected by a specialised committee from the tourism and antiquities and health ministries, the Egyptian Hotels Association and local governorate authorities. Egypt allowed hotels that secure the new hygiene certificate to open for guests and day users since last month, in an attempt to revive the tourism sector, which has been hit heavily by pandemic. The occupancy rate was initially set at 25 percent of capacity but this month was increased to 50 percent.
