The extension aims to encourage domestic tourism, and coincides with the holidays and summer vacations period
Domestic travel remains an important topic to the Tourism and Civil Aviation ministries which have now extended its initiative supporting the country’s domestic tourism by two weeks to end on 31 May.
Part of the government’s package of promotional measures to support the tourism and aviation sector and its staff, the extension aims to offset the effects of the on-going pandemic on the sector.
The extension aims to encourage domestic tourism, and coincides with the holidays and summer vacations period. Hotels should keep their commitment of 50 percent capacity in accordance with the planned operating controls.
The ministries also highlighted the need to comply with all precautionary measures and health safety controls at airports, museums, archaeological sites, restaurants, cafeterias, hotels, and on board tourist buses.
It is worth mentioning that return airfares for Egyptians and foreigners between Cairo and Alexandria to various tourism hotspots across Egypt have been fixed at a unified price including taxes.
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This means that flights now cost: LE 1,500 to Luxor; LE 1,800 to Aswan; LE 1,800 to Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada, and Taba; and LE 2,000 to Marsa Alam.
The initiative was launched by the Ministries of Civil Aviation, and Tourism and Antiquities, last January in accordance with the recommendations of the Ministerial Committee for Tourism and Antiquities.
These recommendations were initially put forward during the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly that was held in December 2020, and had been extended again to 15 May before the latest extension.
The first quarter of 2021 saw Egypt’s hotel occupancy rates at between 40 percent and 45 percent, an official from the tourism ministry told Reuters.
