EGOTH, Saudi ASG Ink Contract on Renovating Shepheard Hotel

The Egyptian General Company for Tourism and Hotels (EGOTH) and the Saudi AlSharif Group Holding (ASG) signed on Sunday a contract to fund the renovation of the iconic Shepheard hotel on the River Nile.

Saudi Ambassador in Cairo Osama bin Ahmed Nuqali and Public Business Sector Minister Hisham Tawfik attended the inking ceremony.

Nuqali said that today's contract represents a joint investment in the private sector, adding it will be added to the Saudi investments in Egypt.

[caption id="attachment_114300" align="aligncenter" width="960"] The Saudi Ambassador and Public Business Sector Minister[/caption]

The ambassador wished that the private sector's investments would benefit the Egyptian-Saudi ties.

Under the contract, the Saudi company will pump EGP 1.4 billion to undergo a full five-star renovation to the 316 rooms and suites of the hotel within 42 months.

The contract will be valid for 35 years during which the ASG will get 69% of the hotel net revenues throughout the first ten years of the operation, to be followed by 60% of the revenues till the end of the contract.

[caption id="attachment_114301" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] EGOTH Representative Shakes Hands with ASG Delegate[/caption]

Meanwhile, the EGOTH will get a one-million-dollar grant for signing the contract.

Shepheard is one of Cairo's famous and historic hotels which once has been located in Cairo's Azbakeya suburb before it was burnt in the 1952 Cairo fire.

The decades-old hotel, which sits on the banks of the River Nile, was relocated to the Cairo district of Garden City and reopened in 1957.