Cairo-based Swiss Inn Hotels & Resorts will add three new hotels to the portfolio as part of its expansion across Egypt.
The group, which currently manages 10 hotels in the market, plans to add the properties within the next year. The first hotel will be in Sharm El Sheikh in the next three to four months while the two other properties are slated to begin operating in Marsa Alam and South Hurghada in one year.
Swiss Inn also has planned to expand its presence outside of Egypt in response to several challenges the country’s hospitality industry has been facing since the October 2015 Russian plane crash in Sinai. The company is considering adding three hotels outside of Egypt to its portfolio, including two in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, and one in Amman, Jordan.
Swiss Inn also is on track to open the Al Qasar Swiss Inn Hotel & Resort on the coast of the Gulf of Aden. The group will develop the 239-room property in Aden, Yemen, near Aden International Airport and the city's downtown area.
Although occupancy is steady in Sharm El Sheikh, room rates remain very low due to Russia's travel ban on Egypt. The UK placed further pressure on the hospitality industry in Egypt by suspending all flights to Sharm El Sheikh and banning travel to Sinai in response to concerns with Sharm El Sheikh's airport security practices.
Anton Good, chairperson for Swiss Inn Hotels & Resorts, told Daily News Egypt that expanding into nearby regions is complicated because of the falling room rates in these markets. These difficulties drove Swiss Inn to shutter its Adan, Yemen property.