Ritz Sharm El Sheikh
Latif Group signed a management contract on Monday that will bring the Ritz-Carlton hotel into the resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh in South Sinai.
The signing service had been lead by founder and chairperson of the group Nasser Abdel Latif, and president and handling director of Marriott International the center East and Africa Alex Kyriakidis.
The all-new Ritz-Carlton Sharm El-Sheikh would be based in Sharks Bay which is usually referred to as the ‘gem of Red Sea’. This task is funded with total assets of $600m therefore the resort is expected to be working by 2020. With a major target of shooting the global rich leisure traveller, the resort has 252 spaces, including 12 villas, three restaurants (including two specialty restaurants), many swimming pools, a destination spa with personal treatment suites, and a variety of water-based activities activities along with the biggest shopping complex in Sharm El-Sheikh.
To mark the event, a unique and magnificent reception was held on Nile Ritz-Carlton, Cairo and ended up being attended by dignitaries, ministers, and VIPs. Speaking within occasion Abdel Latif stated: “This is a momentous time for Egypt as we concentrate on longer-term assets as well as the growth of tourism within our beloved country. I am excited is partnering with Marriott Global in taking this iconic resort brand to the Sinai Peninsula.”
Kyriakidis said: “This may be the most recent in a number of important landmark hotel signings and openings we manufactured in Africa, in Egypt in particular. We trust Egypt, and now we tend to be grateful to the proprietors and lovers, Latif Group, that have aided further our sight for development and prosperity inside enigmatic country.”
Abdel Latif is a number one trader in the united kingdom’s hospitality industry. This relationship will help and strengthen Egypt’s objective to expand its travel and tourism business by providing international travellers a diversity of choices.
On this occasion, day-to-day News Egypt met with Kyriakidis and talked about their state of tourism in Egypt, the challenges, plus the goals for the future.
Why had been the decision to start the hotel in Sharm El-Sheikh perhaps not taken soon after certain nations announced it is formally safe to visit via Egypt’s airports?
The hotel industry is the one that's forever; its a lasting choice. Its almost like a marriage. Coming and an owner to buy a hotel calls for work. It isn't a decision that can be based on just a couple months of discussion—sometimes not even after per year or two—as realistically, it could just take 2-3 years to construct a hotel. And after that the property owner, naturally, desires a return on their assets.
Therefore, with regards to hotels, we have to take a medium, or lasting, view. Within scenario we look right back at and learn from history.
We have been in Egypt for 35 many years since we opened the Cairo Marriott. Because time, we now have expanded to achieve seven resorts across Egypt. We now have seen happy times and in addition challenging times; but regardless of the scenario our proprietors have not lost money—this may be the nature of your business.
We can not simply state: “There ended up being a terrorist attack, so we need end everything”. When we observed this logic, after that we would not be doing business in London, Paris, Brussels, while they have got all experienced terrorist assaults. That isn't the way in which we have a look at our business. Our company is created for the future.
The most important thing for us is seeing the us government and our lovers bond to boost the specific situation.
What's your viewpoint of the Egyptian government?
I could see that the government is working on securing the united states along with spending and securing the country’s airports. That is the secret for us. Whenever prospective tourists additionally see all this work and realise that it is safe traveling, they'll come instantly.
More over, Egypt is an excellent worth for tourists—you could spend 5 times just as much in other Mediterranean countries to experience what Egypt provides. Egypt also has beautiful climate, water, amazing culture, and amazing people—in various other terms, all of the crucial elements for successful tourism and a good worth proposition. Egypt is an unique country for tourism and tourists really want to come-back, they simply must feel protected.
We—the Marriott, the government, as well as the owner—are working as a group to create tourism back. Although this will never be a simple task and can require a lot of time, we are confident that things will enhance and tourists should come right back.
Is it possible to inform us regarding the talks because of the Egyptian Ministry of inside Affairs about protection in the tourism industry?
We simply take safety and security really seriously. The future opening for the hotel need a focus on real protection. However, making our resort secure isn't the response. It should be the country it self that feels secure. That is where the federal government, the and our owners should come hand-in-hand.