Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has announced the upcoming opening of Hyatt Centric Cairo West, the country’s first art hotel.
Scheduled to open in early 2024, the hotel will feature 283 rooms and will be situated in the Pyramids Heights area, contributing to the ongoing revitalization of the Grand Egyptian Museum vicinity. As an art hotel, Hyatt Centric Cairo West will integrate art into its design and guest experience, incorporating paintings, sculptures, hanging figures, and unique architectural elements. The hotel’s development is a result of a partnership between privately-owned company AlDau Development and Hyatt Hotels, with investments totaling one billion Egyptian pounds.
The signing ceremony, attended by Giza Governor Ahmed Rashed and Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa, highlighted the National Tourism Development Strategy. The strategy aims to achieve annual growth of 25 to 30 percent in Egypt’s tourism revenues. Issa’s vision is to attract 25-30 million tourists by 2028, necessitating the expansion of hotel capacity to accommodate 14-15 million tourists annually. To achieve this, efforts include increasing the number of hotel rooms, facilitating affordable air travel, and diversifying tourist offerings.
To revitalize the tourism sector, Egypt has relaxed tourist visa requirements for several countries, including China, Iran, India, Turkey, Morocco, and Algeria. Tourism is a vital source of foreign currency for the country. Although the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted the sector, causing visitor numbers to drop from 13.1 million in 2019 to 3.7 million in 2020, there has been a gradual recovery. Tourist arrivals reached eight million in 2021 and 11.7 million in 2022. Egypt anticipates welcoming 15 million tourists in 2023.