CAIRO: The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced that 19 new hotel facilities were opened and operated during 2021, adding 3,000 new hotel rooms to the total hotel capacity. The ministry said that the hotels opened in the governorates of the Red Sea, South Sinai, Giza, Suez, Damietta, Mansoura and the North Coast. This comes within the framework of the sustainable development strategy of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and Egypt’s Vision 2030, to raise the competitiveness of Egyptian tourist destinations and to encourage investment. Mohamed Amer, Director General of the General Department of Control and Inspection of Hotel Establishments at the ministry, said that these new facilities directly contributed to providing around 2,500 new job opportunities. Mohamed Hajjaj, Director General of the General Administration of Hotel Establishments Licensing at the ministry, said that four new hotel projects are scheduled to be opened during the next two months in the governorates of South Sinai, the Red Sea and Cairo, adding 600 hotel rooms to the total hotel capacity around the country. He pointed out that applications for operating these projects are currently being studied and coordinated with the concerned and relevant authorities to issue a tourism license for them.