Egyptian Officials Make Local Inspection Tours to Reassure Tourists

A man wearing a face mask is seen in front of the Great Pyramids of Giza after reopening for tourist visits, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Cairo, Egypt (Reuters)
A man wearing a face mask is seen in front of the Great Pyramids of Giza after reopening for tourist visits, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Cairo, Egypt (Reuters)
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Egyptian Officials Make Local Inspection Tours to Reassure Tourists

A man wearing a face mask is seen in front of the Great Pyramids of Giza after reopening for tourist visits, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Cairo, Egypt (Reuters)
A man wearing a face mask is seen in front of the Great Pyramids of Giza after reopening for tourist visits, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Cairo, Egypt (Reuters)

Egyptian ministers toured various resorts and airports in the country that began receiving visitors earlier this month while maintaining health measures to confront the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government aims to reassure tourists arriving to Egypt over the health situation and the measures taken to contain the pandemic.

Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled Anani and Minister of Civil Aviation Mohamed Manar met with investors in Taba and Nuweiba to discuss proposals to overcome obstacles facing tourism investors in both cities.

Anani stressed that the government spared no effort to promote the tourism sector, considering it a pillar of the national income. He indicated that flights will be resumed in Taba Airport, provided that investors contribute to these flights until tourism returns to its normal levels.

The minister visited Taba and Sharm el-Sheikh airports and inspected the departure and arrival halls, the thermal camera system, and measures for maintaining social distance at the airport.

Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport received more than 3,000 tourists aboard 16 flights from Ukraine and Belarus, since the beginning of July.

Taba Airport is preparing to receive tourists with the first flight arriving from Poland on July 29.

Anani also inspected a number of hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh, Dahab and Nuweiba to ensure that health measures are being followed, as instructed by the Ministry.

The Ministry issued an official statement indicating that the occupancy rate of Dahab reached about 45 percent, most of which are Egyptian visitors. The city has 28 hotels with an occupational capacity of 2,326 hotel rooms, as well as 110 tourist bazaars.

Whereas Nuweiba has 14 hotels, with a capacity of 1,643 rooms, and seven bazaars.

The Minister also reviewed health precautionary measures followed by the hotel upon the guest’s arrival.

He also monitored the procedures on the reception desk and foyer area, as well as all parts of the hotel including the restaurant, kitchen area, swimming pools, and the beach area.



Gold Set for Brightest Year Since 2010 on Rate Cuts, Safe-haven Demand

Ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold are placed in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/FILE PHOTO
Ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold are placed in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/FILE PHOTO
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Gold Set for Brightest Year Since 2010 on Rate Cuts, Safe-haven Demand

Ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold are placed in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/FILE PHOTO
Ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold are placed in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/FILE PHOTO

Gold prices were set to end a record-breaking year on a positive note on Tuesday as robust central bank buying, geopolitical uncertainties and monetary policy easing fuelled the safe-haven metal's strongest annual performance since 2010.

Spot gold rose 0.1% to $2,607.72 per ounce as of 1315 GMT, while US gold futures gained 0.1% to $2,620.40.

As one of the best-performing assets of 2024, bullion has gained more than 26% year-to-date, the biggest annual jump since 2010, and last scaled a record high of $2,790.15 on Oct. 31 after a series of record-breaking rallies throughout the year.

"Rising geopolitical risks, demand from central banks, easing of monetary policy by central banks globally, and the resumption of inflows into gold-linked Exchange-Traded Commodities (ETC) were the primary drivers of gold's rally in 2024," said Aneeka Gupta, director of macroeconomic research at WisdomTree, Reuters reported.

The metal is likely to remain supported in 2025 despite some headwinds from a stronger US dollar and a slower pace of easing by the Federal Reserve, Gupta added.

The US Fed delivered a third consecutive interest rate cut this month but flagged fewer rate cuts for 2025.

Donald Trump's incoming administration was also poised to significantly impact global economic policies, encompassing tariffs, deregulation, and tax amendments.

"Bullion bulls may enjoy another stellar year ahead if global geopolitical tensions are ramped up under Trump 2.0, potentially pushing investors towards this time-tested safe haven," said Exinity Group Chief Market Analyst Han Tan.

Bullion is often regarded as a hedge against geopolitical and economic risks and tends to perform well in low-interest-rate environments.

"We expect gold to rally to $3,000/t oz on structurally higher central bank demand and a cyclical and gradual boost to ETF holdings from Fed rate cuts," said Daan Struyven, commodities strategist at Goldman Sachs.

Spot silver fell 0.3% to $28.85 per ounce, palladium was steady at $901.03 and platinum was little changed at $904.23.

Silver is headed for its best year since 2020, having added nearly 22% so far. Platinum and palladium are set for annual losses and have dipped over 8% and 17%, respectively.