Egypt recorded the second highest number of major hotels in Africa, following South Africa, according to a report from global real estate consultancy Knight Frank.
South Africa reported it has 430 major hotels, attributing to almost 30 percent of the continent's branded hotels. Egypt has 300 chain hotels and resorts across major cities, including Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada. Morocco's supply came in third with 153 branded hotels. Tunisia landed in fourth with a total of 103 branded hotels in the supply.
The Middle East has been seeing a significant uptick in investment activity from major investors and developers looking to boost their portfolios in key travel destinations, including Morocco and Egypt in North Africa. However, these groups have also been moving into Sub-Saharan Africa's emerging markets for hotel development.
A few of these projects include the new Fairmont Citystars Sharm El-Sheikh, which is slated to open in 2018, and several Marriott- and Hilton-branded properties opening in development across Egypt.
In 2017, Egypt's hotels reported a 55-percent occupancy rate with ADR reaching $66, despite dropping tourist numbers following the Russian plane crash in October 2015 and the 2011 revolution. Tourist numbers have continued to drop since then from 14.7 million in 2010 to 5.4 million by 2016. Meanwhile, annual revenue has dropped from $12.5 billion in 2010 to $3.8 billion in 2016.
The decline in Russian tourist arrivals have driven to this decrease in tourist arrivals. Russian visitors dropped from 68 percent in 2015 to 13 percent by mid-2016.
However, tourist numbers are currently on the rise in 2018 after flights between Moscow and Cairo resumed in April 2017. Visitors to Egypt surged 30 percent in the first quarter of 2018, compared to last year's totals.