Egypt is aiming for 22 million tourists next year. Most will come on holiday, but corporate groups and incentive trips are booked months ahead and often paid in hard currency. Ziad Aly, Director of Business Development at Emeco Travel, says demand for 2027 looks huge and is coming from almost every market. He explains how a large group trip is delivered, where the money goes, how companies price an event a year away with a freely moving pound, and why his firm built its own booking platform for travel partners.
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How Egypt Can Win More Corporate Trips and Meetings as 2027 Bookings Build
Companies usually book these trips a year or more ahead. How does 2027 look, and where is demand coming from?
Putting geopolitical factors aside, because they have always been a very critical factor in this very fragile industry in the Middle East, the demand is huge. The figures are much bigger than what we are used to, even compared with year to date. Demand is coming from everywhere. Some of the markets that have shown higher sensitivity to the geopolitical situation, like North America, Australia and New Zealand, and Western Europe, show huge demand. The opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum added a lot of momentum. Egypt is a little bit beyond trendy. When you go to trade shows like WTM, it is on almost everybody's bucket list. So demand is coming from everywhere, but mostly some of the markets that had taken a step backward are now really interested in coming to Egypt.
Emeco won a Site Crystal Award for bringing a top sales group from Thailand to Cairo and Luxor, and you were the first Egyptian company in your field to win one. What does a group like that spend, and where does the money go?
You get a chance to brag sometimes. It is our 50th year this year, thanks to our founding father, who was a pioneer of incentive travel, which is the category this group falls under. It all started with a Frank Sinatra concert at the pyramids in 1979, and the legacy has continued. The capability of handling the logistical challenges of huge groups, from the number of buses moving to the number of rooms, hotels and restaurants involved, is a statement and a testament to the capabilities of Egyptian tourism professionals. It is not an industry that can sell itself. It requires professionals, and there have been generations of them. As for where the money goes, tourism is one of the most direct sources of income to citizens: transportation companies, restaurants, the people working in them, supply chains, and destination management companies like ours. You get a taste of that money almost instantly, sometimes the same day, in other cases a month later. We are very proud of that.
When a foreign company books with you, what currency do they pay in and how early? Now that the pound moves more freely, is it harder to price an event a year away?
It has its challenges. Destination management companies are the middlemen. We are not the service providers, which are hotels, restaurants and transportation companies, so it can be a little challenging to secure an actual rate a year ahead. But it is customary in our business that hotels, by the end of November, publish the next year's tariff rates, and the same goes for transportation companies. Sometimes you have to go with an average that, out of experience, you know will not be exceeded. Quotations are made mostly in US dollars and euros. That is what makes tourism such a critical tool in the Egyptian economy. Even if gas or the Suez Canal are affected for one reason or another, tourism stands as one of the most important revenue sources, a cash cow for the Egyptian economy.
You pay hotels and venues well before the group arrives. How do you manage that cash, and are banks supporting companies like yours?
Definitely. There have been times when the movement of hard currency has been a little hard or controlled, but because we are the ones who bring in hard currency from overseas, it is well taken into consideration by the banks. All our transactions go through the Egyptian banking system. There are customary rules in the market. Hotels get paid in installments and are settled in full two or three months ahead. A smaller boat or a night cruise might have to be paid a couple of months in advance. Restaurants usually work on a cash and carry basis, paid the same day. It is a well organised position.
This year you launched your own booking platform for travel partners. Why build your own, and what has it changed?
Because it is tailor made. It is all about your needs and custom made for your clientele. You can put static and dynamic rates as well as contracted rates, and if you are a strong destination management company with a great relationship with hotels, your contracted rates are very special, which adds a lot of weight behind the engine itself. You can go for a white label or one of the most famous ones, but ours is directed at our clientele, and it benefits us and them very well.