Tourism, transport ministers discuss measures to facilitate floating hotels movement

CAIRO - 15 November 2018: Tourism Minister Rania el Mashaat and Transport Minister Hisham Arafat met Thursday on measures taken to facilitate the movement of floating hotels.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Irrigation Minister Ragab Abdel Azim, as well as representatives of the three ministries and the Chamber of Floating Hotels.

In a statement, the Tourism Ministry said that the new measures aim at gearing up for the 2018/2019 river tourism season and removing any obstacles hindering the movement of floating hotels in the Nile between Aswan and Luxor cities.

They agreed that the floating hotels will work at full capacity during the winter gale, stressing the necessity of coordination among the tourism and transport ministries and the Chamber of Floating Hotels on their proposed trip schedule, the statement said.

All floating hotels overlooking the Nile River will be notified of new measures, the statement added.

They also agreed on securing four water rescue units to secure the navigational movement in Luxor and Aswan cities, it noted.

The hotels' trips will include between 10 to 15 passengers and they will use hydroacoustic echo sounders that determine the depth of water by transmitting sound waves into water and detect unforeseen objects.

As for hotels, with an anchor greater than 1.8 meters, they agreed on floating them on specific times, and that they should be accompanied by a water rescue unit during winter gales.