Outbound travel picks up from Egypt from UAE
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Outbound travel from the UAE to Egypt is rising slightly as holidaymakers feel a little more safe about visiting the destination that has been mired in conflict the last few years, according to industry experts.
Egypt’s tourism industry has waned after its revolution erupted on 25 January 25 2011, with anti-government protests having had scared visitors away. In a bid to revive its ailing tourism industry, in May this year, Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism launched an ad campaign called “We miss you” to lure back visitors from the Gulf. The video features shopping malls, luxury hotels and dancers.
There has been a revival in visitor numbers in certain markets this year. The number of UAE tourists in Egypt grew by 35% to 10,250 during the first five months of the year, according to statistics from the Egyptian Tourism Authority. However, overall visitor numbers decreased by 26.2%.
Egypt accounted for 10-12% of Lama Tours’ outbound business in the years before the political unrest, but now it makes up one to two per cent, he said. Manu Mehrotra, general manager at Al Travel Agency, said that in general, airline bookings for Egypt have risen five-10% this year compared to 2013.
According to a report by hospitality consultancy, HVS, hotel occupancy levels in Sharm Al Shaikh have dropped from 79% in 2010 to 56% in 2013, while average daily rate (ADR) fell by around 30% during this period. In Cairo, however, revenue per available room (RevPAR — an industry benchmark for performance) was 55% lower in 2013 than it was over 2009-2010, according to HVS estimates.
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