EGYPT – TIME Hotels, the UAE-based hotel company, has announced plans of opening its first two hotels in Egypt later this year – the five-star TIME Coral Resort Nuweiba in the Red Sea resort of Nuweiba and the four-star TIME Marina Hotel & Conference Centre near Al Alamein on the Mediterranean coast.

The 130-room TIME Marina Hotel & Conference Centre is situated just ten minutes from New Al Alamein City on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast and can accommodate more than 350 delegates theatre style and also features a rooftop lounge, a restaurant, coffee shop, gym and pool.

“This hotel is ideally placed to service the enormous number of corporate companies that are basing their operations here, some new, some relocating from Cairo, as well as an increasing amount of general commercial activity,” Mohamed Awadalla, CEO, TIME hotels said.

“The city will eventually be built across 50,000 acres in three stages, stretching for 60km away from the coast, attracting an estimated three million residents.”

The five-star 203-key TIME Coral Resort Nuweiba, is situated in the Red Sea resort of Nuweiba on the east coast of the Sinai peninsula, approximately 140km from Sharm El Sheikh. Overlooking the Gulf of Aqaba, the hotel features three restaurants and bars with extensive gardens and palms with a private sandy beach, ideal for diving enthusiasts.

“This beautiful resort hotel is perfect for those looking for complete relaxation in unspoilt and tranquil surroundings. We believe it has tremendous potential for the leisure market. Plans are already afoot to develop the area sympathetically, with craft shops, restaurants, bars, Bedouin heritage centres, desert safaris and a diving centre,” added Awadalla.

“Nuweiba is very popular with Israeli visitors, particularly seniors, as well as Egyptians, many looking to get away from the hustle and bustle of Cairo. We will focus on these markets as well as encouraging charter operators, once the current global travel restrictions start to ease.”

In his recent visit to check on the progress of the hotels, Awadalla said that the work was proceeding well at TIME Marina Hotel and that the property should be ready to open in August.

For the TIME Coral Resort, he said it was already open and operating it is just awaiting rebranding and so it is only a case of re-branding the hotel and opening under their management this summer.

“These hotels are our first in Egypt and will broaden our footprint from the Gulf to the Mediterranean, with 16 properties situated in UAE, Doha, Saudi Arabia and now Egypt, with a further five in the pipeline,” Awadalla said.

Although the global tourism sector has almost ground to a halt in terms of international arrivals, domestic tourism has ballooned in many countries such as the UAE, and Egypt has been no exception. Its exceptional resilience was borne out by the latest figures from international research and consulting firm Colliers.