Minister of Finance Ahmed Kouchouk stated that the public treasury will contribute to financing the tourism sector, enabling it to establish more hotel rooms and accommodate more visitors.
Kouchouk explained that this initiative enables companies in the tourism sector to benefit from a subsidized return rate from the treasury for five years from the date of the first withdrawal of financing facilities.
In light of this, participating companies must provide 40 percent of their revenues in foreign currency to financing banks.
Furthermore, Kouchouk emphasized the government’s commitment to supporting the tourism sector through incentivizing fiscal policies aimed at economic growth.
Meanwhile, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathy noted that this initiative is a significant step in promoting and encouraging tourism investments, particularly in hotels, to accommodate the anticipated increase in tourist numbers.
Since the tourism ministry aims to attract 30 million tourists by 2028, Egypt aims to construct 200,000 to 250,000 new hotel rooms to achieve this goal.
Fathy mentioned that, so far, 96 applications have been submitted by companies meeting the initiative’s criteria.
He added that the companies benefiting from the initiative will have a low and decreasing return rate of 12 percent, with a withdrawal period not exceeding 16 months, no later than the end of June 2026.
Additionally, these companies will receive a six-month grace period after the 16-month withdrawal period to obtain a final or temporary operating license.
According to a July announcement by the tourism ministry, Egypt attracted 7.069 million tourists in the first half of 2024.
Notably, 2023 saw the highest number of tourists, reaching 14.906 million, surpassing the 2010 figure of 14.731 million.
The World Travel and Tourism Council forecasts that the tourism sector’s contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) will reach 8.1 percent, amounting to EGP 988 billion.
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