Ministry of tourism and Antiquities announced extending the deadline for suspended floating hotels to adjust their situations for additional three months, due on 31 March, Abdel Fattah Al-Assi, head of the hotels supervision sector in the Ministry said. The deadline before extension was 31 December 2019. A Sunday press statement said the suspended hotels must notify the Ministry in case they want to reopen, stressing that these measures come in line with the Ministry's policy on supporting tourism investors and raising the competitiveness of the sector. According to the Egyptian Hotel Association (EHA), there were 130 floating hotels operating in Luxor and Aswan until last October, currently operating at full capacity and witnessing high occupancy rates. Investors predict Luxor and Aswan to lead the growth of Egypt tourism in 2020. Egypt's tourism sector, especially cultural tourism, declined over the years, but then started to recover again since the announcement of establishing the Grand Egyptian Museum, which will be inaugurated in the last quarter of 2020. This has restored the world's confidence Egypt's cultural tourism, bringing back tourists to Luxor and Aswan as well. Treasurer of the Cultural Tourism Association Ehab Abdel Aal earlier told Daily News Egypt that hotel occupancy rates in Luxor and Aswan increased to 95% in winter. He stated that the winter season started in October at witnessed unprecedented activity since 2011. The EHA announced earlier that it had taken some measures to address the flood season in winter that usually affects floating hotels.
