Egyptian group Orascom plans to restart hotel projects that were put on hold after the country’s 2011 uprising. The Four Seasons in the Red Sea town of El Gouna is among mothballed developments to restart, reports Bloomberg.
“We always said that we will be coming back to the Egyptian market when the situation stabilises and now things are becoming more stable,” said Eskandar Tooma, chief financial officer of Orascom's parent company.
“Tourism is picking up, which is reflected in the increased occupancy rates of our hotels.”
Orascom was involved in the construction of North Korea's spaceship-like Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, dubbed by many as the Hotel of Doom.
Construction of the hotel began in 1987 but was halted for 16 years before Orascom stepped in to work on the three-winged, glass-and-concrete pyramid.
At one time Kempinski showed strong interest in operating the 105-floor, US$750 million hotel whose unfinished shell is seen as a reminder of the country's unfulfilled tourism dreams.