02/03/2016
Egypt is counting on the return of Russian tourists from the beginning of March, and in order to restore our tourist flow, hotels in Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh are ready to provide the Russian market with unprecedentedly low prices. In the meantime, their occupancy does not exceed 20-30% on average, which makes the hotel business extremely unprofitable for its owners.
As the Minister of Civil Aviation of the country Husam Kamal said, summing up the results of the meeting of the bilateral intergovernmental commission, Egypt accepted all the requirements of the Russian side to ensure the safety of tourists. So, the other day it became known that it is planned to install two X-ray systems at the Cairo airport for the inspection of incoming vehicles, allowing the detection of explosives. Moreover, the cost of one such complex is 9 million euros. Even earlier, the Egyptian leadership decided to transfer all charter flights arriving in Hurghada from Russia to a new terminal equipped with the latest security systems.
According to Sergei Zalivin, executive director of the Egyptian host travel agency «ALS-tour», the opening of Egypt will take place quite soon, but not earlier than March. Answering the question of the correspondent of the TURPROM information group about whether the hotels are preparing for the return of Russian tourists, the interlocutor noted that it is too early to talk about special discounts from them, since the exact date of the opening of Egypt is unknown. “Accordingly, tour operators have not yet asked hotels for discounts, so as not to take on unrealistic obligations in the absence of accurate information on the date of the resumption of flights,” explained Sergei Zalivin.
However, in order to stimulate the restoration of Russian tourist flow, and this may take up to six months, depending on the situation in the Russian economy, Egyptian hotels will, no doubt, give very attractive prices. “February is considered a low season for Egypt due to the unstable weather. Therefore, the prices now for an average 5 * hotel per person per day on the «all inclusive» basis are $ 20-30. As soon as Egypt is open for the Russian market, additional discounts of 15-25% can be expected, ”the source said.
As the expert explained, the Russian authorities should not greatly delay the process of opening Egypt so that our tour operators have time to get a sufficient number of hotel rooms and good prices. However, our markets are of mutual interest. The fact is that although the occupancy of hotels is now extremely low, the situation may change in the spring, since Europeans will return to Egyptian resorts after the weather improves. “Well, in the summer, I think, with or without Russian tourists, there is a possibility that hotels will be able to provide themselves with a good load at the expense of the domestic market, as well as the market of other Arab countries,” Sergey Zalivin explained. The expert noted that the Egyptians themselves go to resorts exclusively in the summer — when the weather is comfortable for them. And if earlier local hoteliers cut them off with high prices in order to guarantee themselves a year-round load of European and Russian tourists, then this year they may well reduce prices for the Egyptians themselves. “However, for hoteliers, this is only a temporary way out of the crisis — until the end of summer, so they will certainly prefer Russian tourists, luring them with low prices,” said Sergei Zalivin
However, do not forget that one of the main components of the tour cost is air transportation. “In Russia, on the Egyptian direction, at least until recently, the main role was played by Turkish tour operators, which have their own airlines. Considering that you have to pay lease payments for them, they will probably try to load them by hook or by crook. Therefore, it is likely that after the opening of the Egyptian direction will face the strongest dumping, «- summed up the interlocutor.
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