The second quarter saw the hotel sector in Cairo further turn corners with occupancy rates climbing to 60 percent in the first five months of 2022, almost double the level as compared to the corresponding period of last year which stood at 32 percent, according to real estate services company JLL.
According to the study, the total stock remained unchanged owing to no new project completions during the second quarter, almost 600 keys are expected to be delivered by the end of the year.
Despite harboring a fairly limited supply pipeline for the remainder of the year, the sector is attracting interest from international operators, which could lead to new project announcements across the city. In addition, the completion of the construction of the Grand Egyptian Museum in September this year coupled with the government’s concerted efforts to boost tourism in the form of visa reforms and marketing campaigns is likely to pave the way for an influx of tourists and investors in the years ahead.
“The Egyptian government’s ongoing efforts to boost inbound tourism, contain inflation, and strengthen its focus on high-value markets in Europe and the US are reflected in the hotel industry’s sturdy growth levels. We anticipate that all segments within the real estate market will benefit from the positive sentiments fostered by these initiatives, further resulting in an improvement in domestic demand while attracting a flow of sizeable foreign investments in the years to come,” said Ayman Sami, Country Head, Egypt at JLL.
Furthermore, the report highlighted that in contrast to the first quarter, the office space segment observed over 80,000 sq m. of floorspace being delivered in Q2, which brought Cairo’s total office stock to approximately 1.8 million sq. m. In addition to this, almost 170,000 sq. m. of office gross leasable area (GLA) is slated to be completed in the second half of this year.
