Mubarak’s former home may become hotel

The Egyptian presidential palace in Heliopolis The Egyptian presidential palace in Heliopolis, once home to former president Hosni Mubarak, may be turned into a hotel, according to a proposal by a major state company. “We will bring the idea forward to the prime minister,” said Ali Abdul Aziz, chairman and chief executive of the Holding Company for Tourism, Hotels and Cinema (Hotac), a state-run company that owns several historic hotels throughout Egypt.
The idea was discussed among officials of the Ministry of Tourism and Hotac yesterday on the second day of the Arabian Travel Market (ATM). “We would leave part of it as is so people would remember the revolution,” said Abdul Aziz, referring to the January 25 popular protests that led to the ousting of Mubarak and a series of democratic changes.
In a historic moment during the revolution, protesters started to march towards the presidential palace chanting “Leave!” at Mubarak who ruled Egypt for 30 years before stepping down.
Hotac is spending $350 million on renovations of historic hotels around Egypt, including the Cataract Hotel in Aswan that was built in 1902 and the downtown Cairo Marriott Hotel, Abdul Aziz said.
In 2010, 54,000 tourists from the UAE visited Egypt, compared to 50,000 in 2009, said Hesham Zaazou, First Assistant Minister of Tourism. They spent 778,000 nights there last year.
While the political unrest took “its toll negatively” on the industry because of the travel advisory warning visitors against travel to Egypt, tourism is now on the rebound, he said.
The country’s latest branding logo “Egypt: where it all begins” led to an 11.3 per cent increase in Arab tourists in 2010 to 2.1 million, he added.
In Ramadan last year, Arab tourism to Egypt increased by 17.3 per cent over the previous year.
This summer, Egypt will focus on the GCC countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE, with extensive online advertisements and campaigns.