Advertisements offering furnished apartments for short-term rental in the Nazlet Al-Semman area with unobstructed views of the Pyramids have surged lately.
They promote the apartments as having panoramic views of the Pyramids comparable to those of five-star hotels in the area, yet at lower prices and service levels. The advertisements, featuring primarily on global tourism platforms and social media, cover destinations such as Nazlet Al-Semman, Luxor, Aswan, Hurghada and other Red Sea cities, and the North Coast.
The growing preference among tourists for well-furnished vacation rentals over luxury hotels is a sign of a broader global shift in travel habits. In many countries, this kind of rental property is regulated, and Egypt is following suit.
During an Egyptian Businessmen’s Association event last month, the minister of tourism announced that the executive regulations of the Hotel Apartments and Temporary Rental Law will be issued soon. The regulations will focus on high-quality services, cleanliness, and safety standards. Permits will be granted by local administrative authorities under the supervision of the Ministry of Tourism.
This is in line with Law 8/2022 on Hotel and Tourism Establishments, which establishes a structured licensing framework for tourism-related properties and sets service quality benchmarks. Under the law, the Tourism Ministry’s Central Administration for Hotel Establishments, Shops, and Tourism Activities is responsible for issuing and renewing licences and monitoring compliance with regulatory requirements.
According to Egypt’s 2017 census, there are 43,000 residential units that are licensed as furnished rentals, accounting for 0.1 per cent of the country’s total residential units.
However, not all furnished apartments qualify as tourist units. Alaa Aql, former director of the Chamber of Hotel Establishments, said that many of these units are rented to long-term foreign residents from Sudan, Yemen, Libya, and Syria who hold Egyptian residency permits and are engaged in stable jobs.
In contrast, “tourist hotel units” refer to short-term rentals marketed to visitors on platforms like Booking.com and Airbnb. They are not regulated and operate without monitoring of the quality of their services, he said.
The new regulations are meant to bring short-term rentals to foreigners under formal oversight and create a balance between prices and value for visitors. The state will also aim to earn its dues in return for offering services to the tourism sector.
Regulating short-term rentals for foreigners will allow the Tourism Ministry to include these units in its larger strategy and assess the country’s real hospitality capacity. The new regulations will also help to bridge the shortage of hotel rooms in tourist destinations and are part of government efforts to boost tourism and extend tourist stays in the country.
Mohamed Abdel-Gawad, chair of Vantage Urban Development, views the introduction of tourist apartment regulations as a potential catalyst for the real-estate market.
Speaking at a roundtable discussion on the Future of Luxury Living and Hospitality in Egypt, he said that the new regulations could elevate real-estate investments by transforming residential units into high-yield assets.
Short-term furnished rentals allow property owners to maximise their revenue, generating yields 12 per cent higher than elsewhere, he said, adding that this kind of investment is also low risk and indirectly promotes Egyptian real estate.
Ahmed Abul-Haggag, who lists his Luxor apartment on vacation rentals websites, said his biggest concern was the imposition of fees for issuing the necessary licences or of taxes on renting apartments to foreigners.
Such financial burdens could cause some to leave the market or avoid entering it under the umbrella of the Ministry of Tourism in order to escape them, he said.
The stipulated conditions may be unfair, as they could restrict rentals to certain locations and would not apply to many small apartment owners who rely on renting to foreigners.
The new regulations could also have implications for the whole of the real-estate market. Amr Hegazi, spokesperson for the Association of People Negatively Affected by the Old Rent Law, believes that the new regulations will affect furnished rentals in tourist areas, especially in neighbourhoods near tourist sites.
They may lead to an overall increase in furnished rentals, he said.
Hegazi said that with the restrictions on new building permits, developers who secure residential construction licences in urban centres are opting to convert properties into small, fully furnished units designed for short-term rentals to maximise their revenues from such investments.
This trend began over two years ago with the influx of Sudanese and Yemeni arrivals in Egypt, which led to a surge in furnished rental demand, he added.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 20 March, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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