Hilton’s Egypt expansion reaches Ras El Bar with a new Doray Bay hotel deal

MBG Developments will manage and operate the 160-room Hilton Garden Inn Doray Bay Ras El Bar under a strategic partnership inked with Hilton, according to a company statement picked up by Al Mal. The hotel will sit inside MBG’s mixed-use Doray Bay project, which it is developing in partnership with the New and Urban Communities Authority, with fully finished unit handovers targeted for 2027.

Why it matters: The move brings branded hospitality into a less conventional tourism corridor — Ras El Bar typically attracts locals, not foreign tourists — as Egypt tries to build hotel capacity beyond Cairo, the Red Sea, South Sinai, and the North Coast. Hilton has been widening its Egypt pipeline, with plans to triple its presence in the country through 25 new hotels. Egypt’s hotel pipeline remains central to the state’s tourism targets of reaching 30 mn tourists a year and boosting hotel room capacity to 500k by 2030.

Ras El Hekma’s Mykonos moment

Abu Dhabi's Modon Holding and Nammos Hotels & Resorts have launched Nammos Ras El Hekma, the Mykonos-born lifestyle brand’s first fully integrated destination in Egypt, according to a press release. Based in the Wadi Yemm precinct, the project bundles Nammos Residences, a 79-key resort, and Nammos Village, a retail-and-wellness hub.

IN CONTEXT- Nammos is the second global hospitality brand Modon has brought to Ras El Hekma in a matter of months. It signed a similar deal with Montage Hotels & Resorts in May. Since ADQ named Modon master developer on the USD 35 bn project in 2024, it’s been building out Ras El Hekma on two tracks at once: hiring contractors to actually construct it — including a USD 316 mn contract with Orascom Construction in January — and signing recognizable brand names to build consumer trust. Securing Montage and Nammos is part of that second track, as the megaproject works toward a projected USD 110 bn in investment by 2045.

From find to factory

Afaq Mining is reportedly lining up a USD 150 mn gold processing plant at West Gabal Elba, with the company planning to build the facility over the next three years and begin commercial production by 2030. A formal commercial discovery is expected within weeks, paving the way for Afaq and state-owned Shalateen Mineral Resources to establish a JV to work on the Gabal Elba find.

The reserve base is getting larger: Confirmed reserves have risen 60% to 320k ounces after six months of drilling, up from 200k ounces in the commercial-discovery study submitted last October. At the time, Afaq was planning a USD 50 mn processing plant, meaning the planned investment may have tripled as the project moves closer to development.