Committee following up on hospitality sector’s preparations for COP27 holds its first meeting

The committee responsible for following up on the preparations of hotel and tourist establishments in Sharm El-Sheikh held its first meeting on Sunday to ensure the city’s hospitality sector’s readiness before Egypt’s hosting of the UN’s 27th Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP27).

The conference will be held this November in Sharm El Sheikh.

The committee was formed through a decision by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and is headed by Mohamed Amer — Head of the Central Administration for Hotel Establishments, Shops, and Tourist Activities at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

During the meeting, the committee discussed its work mechanisms over the coming period, ways of coordinating and implementing missions, and the committees that will be formed to pass on these facilities in Sharm El-Sheikh to verify their readiness and their implementation of all established health requirements and the quality of services provided in them.

This is in addition to reviewing desalination and treatment plants and storage water tanks to ensure that they meet the required standards.

It was also emphasised during the meeting the importance of training and educating workers in hotels and tourist restaurants on health safety procedures and requirements, noting that 626 trainees were trained as a first phase, and work is underway to start implementing the second phase within days.

For his part, Amer explained that this committee aims to direct and educate these establishments about the tourism standards necessary to raise and improve the quality of services provided by giving the necessary corrective notes and directives.

The meeting ended with an agreement to prepare a unified form for the review and inspection of food products and how they are handled and stored, treatment and desalination plants, water tanks, and swimming pools.

It was also agreed to organise a workshop for all hotel establishments in Sharm El-Sheikh to introduce the mechanism of work of companies specialised in the control and disinfection of tanks.

The committee is expected to report its work starting August to the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities every 15 days.