Yafamac Touristic Company, the majority owners of Emirates Heights, hosted a press conference today in which it stated that it aims to boost residential tourism to Egypt through its project in the North Coast. The press conference was held alongside a gala dinner with the attendance of the Minister of Social Solidarity, Dr. Ali Al-Moselhi. With a steady increase in units owned by foreigners reaching 5,000 as of end-2009, Emirates Heights sees potential in this sector and is keen to tap into it.
In recent years, the Ministry of Tourism has directed attention towards Egypt's North Coast as an area with great potential for international residential tourism. More recently, in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism, the Mortgage Finance Authority is working to promote residential tourism in Egypt by providing foreigners with disbursements worth 65 percent of the value of the unit they wish to buy in any governorate.
"Recently, the ETA's strategy has shifted to focus on the diversity of the country and attract more tourists to the Red Sea area, Alexandria and Cairo. We are proud to be part of Egypt's strategy to promote regional tourism and we will be working tirelessly to make Egypt proud to have Emirates Heights as a component of their investment portfolio," said Engineer Samy El-Korany, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Yafamac Touristic Company. "It will be no easy task to set ourselves apart from the rest, but rest assured, Emirates Heights will provide offerings never seen before in the Egyptian market, such as smart home technology, which allows homeowners to remotely control their stylish units by mobile or via internet and a Greek commercial avenue, which will be the first of its kind in the country."
Speaking on the topic of investing in Egypt, El-Korany stated "We are sincerely honored to be operating in such a promising country where GDP grew by 7.2% in the fiscal year ending June 30th and where the real estate industry received $400m in foreign investment this year alone. This is a very lucrative market that is currently benefiting from the shift in direction of Gulf investors from investing in the US and Europe towards investing in Arab countries. It is also a market that is attracting new comers, such as China, India and Turkey, which are currently expanding their presence on the Egyptian FDI map."
In an effort to ensure the success of their aspirations towards residential tourism, Emirates Heights has aligned with Qatar Sotheby's International Realty, one of the world's most renowned international realty firms, as sales consultants. Qatar Sotheby's International Realty will utilize their international reach to attract international clients to the project.
Speaking on the importance of residential tourism in Egypt, Jasmine Smith, General Manager, Qatar Sotheby's International Realty, stated "if I had to capture the essence of this sector's importance in one sentence I would say it means 'more jobs, a stronger economy and a better quality of life.' In reality though, the potential for residential tourism is far greater than this, offering opportunities to expand and develop Egypt's infrastructure, develop areas of uninhabited land, create an even greater cultural diversity, adding to the rich heritage that Egypt is so well known for and overall, create continuous levels of sustainable community development." Smith continued to state "we are happy to be a part of this promising project, which so perfectly aligns with government initiatives for this area. We aim to open an Egypt Sotheby's International Realty office in Cairo in the near future and we hope to work closely with all parties to achieve the objectives set out by government initiatives."
Among the hotel chains that Emirates Heights has attracted is V. Five Continental, an internationally renowned chain of hotels. Representing V. Five Continental during the event was Richard Abou Jaoude, who stated "The potential for the hospitality industry in Egypt is immense, and despite predictions by global analysts that financial crisis would hit Egypt's tourism industry the hardest, holiday makers and residential tourists continue to flock to the country in their thousands. For V. Five Continents we considered now to be a crucial time to invest in the hospitality market in Egypt and entering the market through Emirates Heights was the most logical approach for us. We believe in partnering with the best and Emirates Heights has proven to be just that."
The North Coast has attracted much investment in recent years with investment increasing from 3 billion EGP last year to 7.7 billion EGP this year. Among those investors is Emirates Heights, a complex with 740 m of beautiful Mediterranean beach front comprised of 4 and 5 star hotels, villas, apartments, chalets, studios, an aqua park, mini golf, restaurants, bistros, shopping centers, business center and auditorium, marina, Yacht club, and a diving center.
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