The Ministry of Tourism aims to increase average occupancy rates during 2015 to 65% from 35% in 2014, according to a ministry official. The official said that Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh showed the highest occupancies over 2014, compared to other regions of the country, adding that average occupancies in tourist cities in the Red Sea and Sharm El-Sheikh exceeded 45%, while they were less than 30% in Cairo. He added that the areas with the least occupancies during 2014 were Luxor and Aswan, and Taba and Nuweiba in South Sinai, as occupancies there did not exceed 20%. Hotel capacity in Egypt accounts for 225,000 rooms, 65% of which are in the Red Sea and South Sinai. According to the official, targeted tourist numbers by the end of this year are 12 million tourists, compared to 10 million in 2014. The Ministry of Tourism is working on separating the marketing of different regions, which gives flexibility to their promotion, in light of the crisis they witnessed over the past four years. "Income increased last year to $7.5bn from $5.9bn in 2013," said the official, adding that they hope it reaches by the end of 2015 at least $10bn. According to Economic Adviser to the Minister of Tourism Adla Ragab the second half of last year witnessed growth in numbers and an increase in tourist spending per night. Ragab mentioned that the nightly tourist expenditure increased from $74 in the first half of 2014 to $81 by the end of the year. According to the official, Arab arrivals will have a significant role in raising occupancies in hotels during 2015, especially in Cairo and Alexandria. The number of Arab arrivals last year reached 1.6 million arrivals, compared to 1.8 million during 2013. "We hope Arab tourism sill return to 20% of total annual arrivals to Egypt, after a 16% fall last year," the official added.
