Colliers International maintained its optimistic forecast for Egypt’s hotel occupancy in its September report on MENA hotels (pdf). All four Egyptian tourism destinations listed — Cairo, Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada and Alexandria — are expected to witness continued growth in occupancy this year despite some modest revisions in Alexandria and Sharm El Sheikh hotel occupancy for the year.

Occupancy in Sharm is forecast to reach 45% over the year and witness a total 96% occupancy growth y-o-y, marking a 3 percentage point increase in occupancy rates from Colliers’ August report. Hurghada occupancy has been revised downwards by 1 point to a total annual occupancy rate of 50%. Occupancy is still expected to grow by 111% this year despite the slight downward revision from Colliers’ August hotels report.

Cairo figures are looking better than they have in previous months, with occupancy rates expected to reach 52%, up 91% y-o-y and a three-point increase from August’s 49% occupancy projection. In Alexandria, anticipated occupancy rates have remained steady at 57% — the same figure the organization had estimated for the Mediterranean city last month, which was revised downwards by 1 point from July. Overall, Alexandria is still expected to see a modest 26% growth in hotel occupancy this year.

Bear this in mind: The government had set a 50% limit on hotel occupancy last year as part of its covid-19 precautionary measures, which will have artificially kept rates muted. This was raised to 70% in July, allowing for more growth in the sector.

The tourism industry in Egypt has gotten several major boosts in past months: The return of direct Russian flights to Red Sea resorts last month after a six year hiatus is expected to bring an influx of occupants to Red Sea hotels. The Swiss also followed suit, resuming direct flights to Sharm El Sheikh earlier this week.