Egypt

Egypt has considerable tourist potential, from the majesty of the pyramids of Giza to the beauty of the Sinai Desert and the glamour of the Red Sea resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada. Around 8 million people now visit every year (around 500,000 of them from Britain) and the numbers are increasing steadily. The country is also of interest to the foreign property investor: prices are rising fast, rental yields are good and the tax environment is extremely favourable. Even so, it is still possible to pick up a studio in Sharm for as little as £15,000; £250,000 should buy a luxurious four-bed villa with pool. Given the Egyptian government’s realisation of the importance of foreign investment and of the tourist industry, the future prospects for the real estate market look good. The only real question mark hanging over the country is political. Although one of the few countries in the region to hold elections, Egypt is not a democracy in the Western sense of the world and there are clear indications of simmering dissent, increasingly of a militant Islamic nature, below the surface.

Read part of the Egypt chapter

Buy the book at a special offer price