Grand Hyatt Cairo's new GM has much to say about tourism in Egypt Gordon , the newly appointed Hyatt regional director in Egypt and general manager of Grand Hyatt Cairo, is a Briton with vast hospitality experience. 's first position was at the Churchill Hotel after which he managed hotels in Riyadh, Istanbul, Hong Kong and Dubai. For five years he was general manager of Hyatt Regency in Dubai before moving to Egypt. says Egypt is a country with excellent tourist potential "comprising history, superb beaches, resorts, deserts, golf courses and wonderful weather". Hyatt chain in Egypt is represented by three hotels: Grand Hyatt Cairo, Hyatt Regency in Sharm El-Sheikh and Taba in South Sinai. There are no immediate plans for expansion but Hyatt officials believe if there is to be more construction it would take place in the south of Egypt on the Red Sea. "We've been approached by a number of people to look at their projects," said. "We think of places south of Hurghada in Marsa Alam, between Hurghada and the borders specifically. This area is seen as the new Sharm El-Sheikh. It is the future and there are plans to bring five-star international chains to this area and develop more regional airports." described Luxor and Aswan, rich in culture and history, as being easily accessible "so clients could have the benefit of both". On terrorist attacks which target the country, praised Egypt's policy of managing the adverse reaction of the attacks and regaining the confidence in the Egyptian tourist destination quickly. "I worked in Istanbul and whenever there were terrorist problems, we always used Egypt as an example of fast recovery from terrorist attacks and how travellers bounced back to Egypt after the Luxor attack, how the country reacted quickly and proved it is a safe place." said he was completely against the idea of reducing prices, which some hotels and resorts do, after a terrorist attack. "With terrorist attacks some officials panic and drop prices, making it very difficult to pick up again. If someone is frightened for their life, dropping the rate will not do anything. If you suddenly give a 50 per cent discount, we won't be able to get the rate back up again." Although both Sharm El-Sheikh and Taba suffered from terrorist attacks, Sharm, believes, recovered better than Taba. "Taba is suffering from the bombing and from the Israeli warnings to their citizens to stay in Israel and not to travel there. In Ramadan and Eid it was full. It is good value for money to have a week in Taba but out of those holiday periods there are not many travellers to the area. In the past we used to have long weekend business from the border but it is less now," he said. Another problem facing Taba, says , is the absence of direct flights to Taba. Tourists must travel to Sharm El-Sheikh first and then to Taba by road. believes that the opening of the new golf course in Taba Heights might help to attract golf travellers. "The tourists raved about it. Some came six or seven times from the UK and they didn't care about what happened in the past. They said it could happen anywhere." Although Grand Hyatt is almost in the same area as that of other big chains such as the Four Seasons, doesn't appear overly concerned about competition. "Having Hyatt in Cairo three years ago, Four Seasons and JW Marriott add to the destination. You obviously find the clientele who is loyal to Hyatt, like to Marriott or to any other chain. All hotels have basically the same sort of facilities. But at the end of the day it comes down to service. This is the challenge of every hotel -- the consistency of service." By Rehab Saad
