On the second day in the city of Sharm El-Sheikh in the Arab Republic of Egypt, bilateral workshops were held between travel, tourism and aviation companies on the sidelines of the first session of the African Tourism Forum and Exhibition, which was held at the Sharm El-Sheikh International Convention Center in Egypt on May 20 to 21, with the participation of more than 2,000 people. Official of travel agencies, hotel operators and tourism industry professionals.
This event, which is the first gathering of its kind in the continent of Africa and Egypt, was sponsored by both the “GMT Fair Organization” and the Rixos Egypt Hotel Group.
The forum discussed enhancing cooperation, discussing developments in the sector, evaluating investment opportunities, and developing strategies for the future.
The African Tourism Forum and Exhibition, which was established by GMT Fair, brought together leading brands, tourism professionals and investors in this sector, providing the opportunity to explore the tourism potential in Africa and Egypt and strengthen important links in this sector, and provides participants with an experience full of ideas. Innovative projects through conferences, committees, meetings and special courses.
Erkan Yildirim, General Manager of Rixos Hotels Egypt, speaking to “Gulf Tourism” and a number of journalists on the sidelines of the First African Tourism Forum in Sharm El-Sheikh, sponsored by the accommodation from Rixos Hotels Egypt, confirmed that Rixos Hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh received 250 thousand tourists in 2023, as we previously had 3 Rixos hotels in Sharm El Sheikh, but currently we have 7 hotels in Sharm El Sheikh through which we seek to attract 500 thousand tourists this year.
He pointed out that Rixos Hotels is seeking to expand to Luxor as well during the coming period to serve that side of Egypt, which is considered attractive to tourists. We have begun our discussions with the concerned authorities to begin our construction operations in Luxor, which is part of our policy to enhance our investment in all of Egypt, whether in Luxor, Aswan, Hurghada, or Cairo. Which is considered an important station and the heart of Egypt. He said: We focus on luxury hotels in our projects, and we currently have 7,000 hotel rooms in Egypt in general as the Rixos Egypt hotel group. We seek for the share of Rixos hotels in Egypt to be 50% of the luxury rooms in the total of Egypt.
He added in his statement: We are holding this tourism conference and exhibition for the first time in Sharm El-Sheikh, which we saw as a need for such a conference and exhibition that brings together more than 2,000 participants from tourism and travel companies from various countries of the world. As we know, Egypt is a global tourist destination, and therefore the presence of such an exhibition and conference will serve tourism in Egypt in general.
He went on to say, “We are happy to host this conference, which we hope will be an annual event that serves Egyptian tourism and makes it more known to the world, to be a global attraction for such events and conferences that bring together an elite group of tourism and travel companies.” Today, the Rixos Group has 11 Rixos resorts in Egypt alone, and therefore it is an important station for our investments, and we look forward to building and investing in more hotels in Egypt in the future. We look forward, within two years, to have 17 hotels in Egypt providing 15,000 hotel rooms. Our new hotel, Rixos Radamel in Sharm El Sheikh, is considered our latest project in Sharm and is considered a destination within a destination, as it provides 4,000 hotel rooms and provides everything guests and tourists need in terms of luxury and well-being. It will also include 14 diverse restaurants in addition to recreational water parks. It will also include a hall. Major conferences serving conference tourism in Sharm El Sheikh.
Yesterday, the travel and tourism companies participating in the African Tourism Conference and Exhibition held a series of bilateral B2B meetings with the aim of discussing strengthening cooperation relations between tourism companies to learn about the offers and services that Egyptian companies and hotels provide to tourist visitors. It is worth noting that the African Tourism Forum is the first edition of the Africa Tourism Exhibition, Which is set to become the largest tourism exhibition in Egypt and Africa, bringing movement and excitement to this sector. This event will help the leading brands in the sector formulate their plans for the period 2024-2025, focusing on the key advantages of the sector.
The forum aims to come up with concrete recommendations to enhance cooperation in the field of tourism between African countries and attract foreign investments. These recommendations are essential to ensure the sustainability of the tourism sector in Africa.
The African Tourism Forum is an important event that will contribute significantly to the development of the tourism sector on the African continent and the achievement of sustainable development for the African people.
