Gulf tourists double reservations in Cairo hotels for Eid.

Gulf tourists double reservations in Cairo hotels for Eid.

Abdel Razek Al-Shuwekhi / June 24, 2015 /

@http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2015/06/24/gulf-tourists-double-reservations-in-cairo-hotels-for-eid/

Occupancies in Cairo hotels vary between 20%-30%, looks to increase to 70% within last few days of Ramadan

The percentage of Cairo hotels’ occupancies over the first week of Ramadan was stable at between 20% and 30%, according to Egyptian Tourism Federation Board Member Hussien Shokry.

Shokry told Daily News Egypt that he expects that over the last 10 days of Ramadan, occupancies will reach 70%, coinciding with the current increase of occupancies for the Eid Al-Fitr holidays.

What are the tourism occupancies in Cairo hotels over the first week of Ramadan?

Before answering this question, we have to be aware of the fact that hotel capacity in Cairo amounts to 30,000 rooms. In regards to hotels’ tourism occupancies, in the first half of Ramadan, full occupancies are low, because Arabs prefer to spend this period with their families in their countries. Over the first week of Ramadan, it varied between 20% and 30%. Anyway, the current percentage of occupancies is better than the percentage over the past year, which did not exceed 20%.

On the other hand, we expect that average occupancies over the last days of this Ramadan will reach 70%.

What about the second week; will occupancies remain at this rate?

Over the second week, hotels in Cairo depend mainly on the events of iftar, held by companies for their employees. Compensating for the low percentage of occupancies over the first half of Ramadan, these events revive hotels financially, even though this revival does not reach the amount of revenues obtained from guests’ occupancies for rooms.

What are the companies celebrate that most iftar gathering events in hotels for their employees?  

There are very large companies that celebrate iftar gathering events in hotels for their employees during Ramadan, the most important ones are real estate, communications and insurance companies, as well as banks.

You mentioned that over the last days of Ramadan, percentage of occupancies in Cairo hotels would reach 70%. 

What are the nationalities that are most likely to book rooms over this period?

Arab tourism will play a big role in raising the average rate of occupancies. The nationalities that booked the most were from the Arabian Gulf, especially Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE. I expect that Arab tourism will be in very good condition over this summer. Improvement will start by the last days of this Ramadan.

Do you expect any increase in Cairo hotels’ accommodation prices over the current season? 

Yes, there is a price increase over the current season due to the increase of demand of Arab tourists on visiting Egypt, in addition to the increase of the occupancies’ cost.

However, prices did not exceed a 25% increase, despite the huge price increase of food products and energy lately.

Cairo has many hotels that can be divided by location: close to the airport, east Cairo, downtown Cairo, and close to the Pyramids. In your opinion, which of them has larger occupancies?

In the last period during Ramadan, hotels in the Fifth Settlement have more occupancy, followed by hotels in east Cairo: Heliopolis and Nasr City, and then the hotels overlooking the Nile, and at the end come hotels in the Pyramids area. Although Arabs own apartments in Cairo, they prefer staying at hotels to get tourist services and parties after Iftar and even Sohour.

Are there offers for Arab tourists by Cairo hotels?

Of course there are very good offers for Arab tourists in the current period, the most important of which are getting one or two extra nights if their stay is a week long, and exempting children under six years from paying for their stay. In Ramadan, hotels take great care of Arab tourists. There are discounts that reach 50% in hotels for Arab tourists if they are spending the Eid Al-Fitr holiday in Egypt. All this will work on growing Arab tourism in Egypt over 2015 compared to last year. Last year, Arab tourism fell to 1.6 million tourists compared to 1.8 million in the previous year.

Will there be a breakthrough in Arab tourism during 2015?

We hope so. The Ministry of Tourism and the Egyptian Federation of Chambers of Tourism are working together to raise the flow of Arab tourists to more than 2 million tourists by the end of 2015. In the last period, there was coordination between the federation and the Tourism Activation Authority (TAA) in promoting Egypt, especially in the countries of the Arab Gulf.

Arab tourists complain of high prices compared to competing tourist destinations in the region. What are your views on this?

Indeed, this is a big obstacle, but the accommodation services in Egypt are the cheapest in the Middle East. To be more precise, the problem is first, there is an increase in EgyptAir tickets, and tickets constitute the bigger part of the cost of a tourist programme. This is what gives Arab tourists the feeling that accommodation in Egypt is more expensive than other places, especially in Turkey. The ministry and the federation are working on solving this problem with the Ministry of Aviation, by offering suggestions of reducing prices of tourist visits to Egypt. During 2014, tourist programmes for the Arab region were launched in this framework, they were very successful and we should repeat them once more. Second, the Arab tourist places reservations at the last minute, which raises the prices compared to reservations by foreign tourist agencies much earlier, which gives them relatively lower prices.

Researchers Uncover an Ancient Mass Grave of 8 Million Mummified Dogs in Ancient Egypt.

@ http://www.biztekmojo.com/00818/researchers-uncover-ancient-mass-grave-8-million-mummified-dogs-ancient-egypt 

Saqqara was a busy community in ancient Egypt, which existed between 747 and 332 BC. A team of archeologists have now uncovered an ancient Egyptian temple that was built in North Saqqara and was dedicated to Anubis, the god of the death.

Archeologists also discovered a mass grave located next to this ancient temple holding over eight million mummified dogs and puppies.

According to researchers, this finding highlights the "unappreciated scale of burial practices associated with animal cults." It also suggests that animal cults played a major role in sustaining the regional economies in ancient Egypt.

The dog catacomb in North Saqqara was first discovered in the 19th century. However, the huge extent of animal body count in this region was unearthed recently by a team of archeologists from the University of Cardiff.

According to lead researcher Paul Nicholson, the temple and the catacombs found in North Saqqara served as the burial ground, decked out with mummies of mongooses, jackals, hawks, cats, baboons, foxes, bulls, falcon, and millions of dogs. Some of these animals lived in the main temple complex, but the majority was bred, probably, to serve the purpose of mummification. Nicholson suggests many puppies would have been kept in the tomb from birth. They were not strangled but died due to starvation or dehydration.

"They probably weren't killed by physical action; we don't have evidence of broken necks that you get with cat burials." Nicholson told Ibtimes.

According to Nicholson, the animals were not strictly "sacrificial" but considered as an "intermediary between the donor and the gods." Dedicating an animal mummy to god was always regarded as a pious act in ancient Egypt. The catacombs in the region were created in around fourth century BC, and those holding mummies were "a very long series of dark tunnels."

"There is no natural light once you've gone into the forepart of the catacomb, and beyond that everything has to be lit with flashlights. It's really quite a spectacular thing."

Researcher also discovered a spine of marine vertebrae which is now extinct. The remains were found in ceiling of the catacomb.

According to a paper published in journal Antiquity, researchers found a 568 x 459 ft catacomb with remains of animals. The paper reveals that in ancient Egypt, animal cults were an expression of national identity and popular religion, and reached their prime during the Late and Ptolemaic Periods between 747 and 30 BC.

The paper also suggests that during that period, the Temple of Anubis and the catacomb would have been a famous tourist spot with a large number of animal breeders, priests, bronze-makers, and embalmers living at this place.

- See more at: http://www.biztekmojo.com/00818/researchers-uncover-ancient-mass-grave-8-million-mummified-dogs-ancient-egypt#sthash.hafxdgvx.dpuf

Statement from the Egyptian Minister of Tourism

Statement from the Egyptian Minister of Tourism
Karnak Temple - Live :http://goo.gl/31SCCl

According to preliminary reports from the local authorities,vigilant police work foiled an attempted suicide attack outside the Temple of Karnak this morning.

When a car with three individuals attempted to enter the Temple's parking lot, a suspicious plain clothes policeman forced it to stop.

One of the assailants ran out of the car and detonated a suicide device killing himself instantly.  The police then surrounded the vehicle,  killed one additional assailant inside the vehicle and wounded another.

The policeman who stopped the vehicle sustained minor injuries, but due to his heroic actions many other potential victims were saved and thankfully no tourists were harmed.

The Ministry of Tourism and the Government of Egypt place the highest priority on the safety of tourists in our country.

We have enhanced security measures in place at all our sites and we continue to take every possible measure to ensure that no harm comes to anyone visiting Egypt.