UK Becomes El Gouna's 5th Biggest Market
EL GOUNA, Egypt, October 26, 2005. Following the release of recent figures, El Gouna has announced that the UK has grown in significance to become its 5th largest source market. The figures confirm the increase in popularity that many Tour Operators have reportedly also been experiencing.
El Gouna's figures show that in 1999, the UK represented only 2.5% of the total market, placing it as the 10th biggest source country for the resort. Following increases in the contribution over the two years to 2001, the UK market stagnated slightly but it is now firmly increasing once again, to take its place as the 5th largest contributor.
Significantly, figures for the total number of UK guest nights accumulated during the first eight months of 2005 already exceed those accumulated for the full years of each of 1999-2004. Additionally, figures for January-August 2005 show that the UK's room night figures are currently just 0.1% lower than those demonstrated by domestic tourism, which has consistently been the 2nd or 3rd most important market for the resort since 1999. Germany remains number one.
Since 1999, El Gouna has seen an increase of over 256% in the number of arrivals originating from the UK, while the average yearly increase has been approximately 30%.
Such an increase in the number of UK visitors to El Gouna has also been shared by many of the Tour Operators who feature it. Cosmos has responded to the increased demand by introducing direct flights from the UK to Hurghada from 1st November this year. This introduction followed the popularity of twin centre holidays incorporating El Gouna but the improved accessibility is also expected to create increased demand for single centre holidays and subsequently the product offering at the resort.
Longwood Holidays has also seen an increase in UK bookings for its Red Sea products and El Gouna in particular. In response, the operator has increased its product offering in El Gouna from six to eight hotels, so that it now brochures properties from all price ranges at the resort. Following previous year on year growth for the Red Sea and El Gouna markets, the operator expects this to be a trend that continues. The increase is often seen in relation to twin centre holidays combining the Red Sea with Luxor and Cairo but the importance of the Red Sea area is demonstrated by Longwood's opening of a new regional office in Hurghada.
Finally, the figures suggest that despite the events of July in Sharm, the UK market remains resilient and loyal to Egypt and the Red Sea, so that year end figures are not expected to suffer much as a result.
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