Income from Arab tourism increased 0.7% to $1.5bn out of Egypt's $7.5bn tourism revenue in 2014, according to a Ministry of Tourism official. The official said that the number of Arab arrivals during the last year amounted to 1.6 million tourists, out of 10 million tourists in 2014. Arab tourism to Egypt retreated last year to 16%, compared to 20% in the last four years, according to the official. He added that the ministry is targeting restoring the flow, especially from Gulf states, during the summer of 2015. "We have launched promotional campaigns during the last two months," according to the official, who expects the "Egypt is Near" campaign, launched at the end of last February. It is expected that this will contribute to a growth in Arab tourism of no less than 10%, from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The Egyptian Chamber of Hotels would participate in the promotional campaigns that will be launched in May in the Gulf states, in coordination with the Tourism Activation Authority. The number of hotel rooms in Egypt amounts to 255,000 rooms, 65,000 along the Red Sea, 62,000 in South Sinai and 30,000 in Cairo. This is in addition to the capacity of floating hotels which is 17,000 rooms, with the rest spread around the governorates, according to the Hotels Chamber. Cairo and Sharm El-Sheikh are seeing the largest growth in tourism in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), according to a Colliers International report. The report expects an increase of 58% in demand for Cairo hotels during the period of March-May 2015, while demand on Sharm El-Sheikh hotels amounts to 29%. "We have a great opportunity to attract Arab tourism during this summer starting in June, despite the fact that Ramadan is coming and the preference of the Arab tourist to stay with his family. There will be long period of the summer still remaining to complete tourism programmes after Ramadan," according to the official.
