The Ministry of Tourism is targeting investments worth EGP 10bn by launching five tourism projects in different areas in the Red Sea. The projects announced will be in the hotel, entertainment and service sectors, according to an official in the ministry. The official said that the number of hotel rooms in the five projects exceeds 3,000, in addition to entertainment and commercial projects that aim to increase Egypt's tourism expenditure. Annual hotel capacity increased to 2,000 rooms over the past two years, compared to 1,000 rooms throughout 2011 and 2012, according to the official. The Tourism Ministry announced that it intends to propose five projects to tourist developers in the Economic Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh at the end of this week. The ministry is counting on attracting more tourist investments in light of the income recovery over the last year, which increased by $1.6bn compared to the year before. Tourism income during 2014 reached $7.5bn, according to the Tourism Ministry. The methods for raising land values vary, and include usufruct and direct allocation in accordance with a recent ministerial decision to vary methods, according to the official. He added that although the past four years were difficult for Egypt, the tourism sector is still working and able to face difficulties, asserting that the sector's ability to cope with these crises emphasises its ability to recover. The official believes that tourism investments in Egypt are profitable compared to other competing sectors, where investors' profit rate exceeds 20% annually. He said that tourism investment during the past four years was supported by the state with great incentives, most importantly the postponement of tourism companies' dues more than four times. Most recently, the government extended the repayment period to mid-2015.
