Eng. Randa El-Menshawy, Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities, held a meeting with Eng. Mostafa Abdel Wahab, CEO of the Tourism Development Authority, to review the ministry’s vision for developing the authority’s work mechanisms, enhancing institutional performance efficiency, and maximizing the utilization of available assets and resources. This supports the state’s direction toward promoting tourism investment and achieving sustainable urban and tourism development.
The minister emphasized that the coming phase requires continuous development of work methods and mechanisms within the authority, in line with the state’s objectives of maximizing the utilization of the tourism and investment potential enjoyed by various areas across the country and transforming these assets into genuine investment and development opportunities that generate added value for the national economy.
During the meeting, Eng. Mostafa Abdel Wahab reviewed the proposed vision for developing work mechanisms, noting that the area of land under the authority’s jurisdiction is estimated at approximately 18.5 billion square meters. He also discussed the status of existing and targeted projects and investment opportunities on these lands, reflecting the scale of the assets and potential owned by the authority and the opportunities to maximize their utilization during the coming phase.
The meeting also reviewed the status of hotel capacity. The total number of existing hotel rooms stands at approximately 110,000 rooms, while around 60,000 rooms are currently under construction and are targeted for completion over the next two years, bringing total hotel capacity to approximately 170,000 rooms. In addition, around 190,000 further rooms are about to enter the implementation phase, supporting the state’s plans to increase the capacity of tourism destinations and maximize returns from tourism investments.
The meeting also discussed the status of a number of lands affiliated with the authority and proposals for utilizing them to establish integrated tourism centers, contributing to the diversification of tourism activities and services and creating new destinations capable of attracting more investments and visitors.
In this regard, Eng. Randa El-Menshawy stressed the importance of developing an integrated vision to maximize the utilization of the authority’s lands and assets by studying the best uses and activities that can be implemented on them according to clear economic and investment principles. This would achieve the highest development and investment returns while adhering to planning and environmental requirements and preserving the tourism character of the areas targeted for development.
The meeting also reviewed the status of lands under the authority’s jurisdiction; the proposed model for stimulating tourism investment; the key challenges and ways to address them; as well as a number of development proposals and visions aimed at maximizing the tourism and investment potential of these areas.
In this context, a proposal was reviewed to establish tourism centers along the Red Sea coast and connect them to major routes and roads in Upper Egypt cities. This would help open new areas for tourism and investment development, provide job opportunities for residents of various Upper Egypt governorates and cities, generate integrated economic and social returns, and support the state’s efforts to achieve balanced development among different governorates.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Eng. Randa El-Menshawy directed the need to develop the system for offering investment opportunities and make relevant information available in a clear and updated manner. This would help attract investors, facilitate allocation procedures and project implementation, and establish precise mechanisms for monitoring projects from the time they are offered until they enter the operational phase, while measuring completion rates and the returns generated.
She also directed strengthening coordination and integration between the Tourism Development Authority and various state agencies and relevant entities, preparing development plans, and removing any obstacles facing project implementation, thereby contributing to accelerating development rates and enhancing the efficiency of tourism areas.