New perks for hotel projects? In its latest efforts to boost hotel room capacity, the Madbouly cabinet is looking into fresh incentives scrapping the fees that accompany switching up the use of land or buildings originally bought or set up for residential, commercial, administrative, or mixed-use projects into hotels.

Who’s eligible? Projects need to pass a technical review conducted by the Tourism Ministry to ensure the land or property is suitable for hotel use. The exemption will only be granted with approvals from the Tourism Ministry and the Supreme Council for Planning and Urban Development.

Strict deadlines: Projects must begin operating within specific timeframes to benefit from the exemption.

  • For repurposing already set up buildings: Developers will have one year to open up the doors of their 100-key hotels, two years for 101 to 300-key hotels, and three years for anything bigger than that.
  • Developers will be granted more time if they’re repurposing a plot of land — they will have two years for hotels of up to 100 rooms, three years for 101-300 rooms, and five years for projects above 300 rooms;

Deadlines are calculated from the date the construction license is issued or amended. Developers may apply to push the deadline one year if at least 80% of the project is completed.

That’s not all: Developers cannot sell the land or building before operations start. The Tourism Ministry, together with the relevant governorate, will calculate the waived fee and register it as the project’s granted incentive.

Penalties for non-compliance: If the developer fails to meet the conditions, the exemption is revoked and they must repay the full fee plus interest calculated from the date the council approved the land-use change.

The fine print: The new exemptions apply only to hotel facilities and have nothing to do with tourist establishments.

REMEMBER- The government aims to attract some 30 mn tourists annually by 2030, for which it plans to add some 240-250k rooms to the existing hotel room capacity.

ALSO- Longer stays for five-year visa holders: The ministers approved a decision extending the permitted stay for holders of five-year visas to 180 days per visit, up from 90 days. Visitors can also apply on arrival for a tourist residence card valid for 180 days, which remains valid even if they exit and re-enter during the period.

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