Dear Owner,

Firstly, may we say how touched we are that so many of you have contacted us and have expressed concern primarily about our welfare and safety. It has been greatly appreciated by all our staff. It has been so nice to know that our buyers have in fact become friends over the years with this great project.

We appreciate that the scenes on your TV screens and newspapers in the major cities in Egypt have been far from encouraging and that many of you may be wondering how it will affect your investment.

There has been no disturbance whatsoever within the resort and very minimal disturbance in the Red Sea in general. We are in fact very isolated from the major population centres in Egypt where these disturbances are occurring. The economy and more importantly  employment within the Red Sea Governate is 90% tourism based. We have very little unemployment in the region and those that might have wished to cause problems are far outweighed by those who realize that it is vital for their livelihoods to keep the peace at all times.

Importantly, one of the reasons you probably chose to invest in El Gouna was that it is a totally self-sufficient resort in every way run by a multi-billion dollar corporate registered on the Swiss stock exchange. This extends to our private security force, administration and amenity supply chains such as electricity, water, an airport and large marinas.  The only services we did lose was the national internet and the central banking system. These have now been restored.

On this note, we can assure you that work on all the Orascom projects inclusive of Ancient Sands has continued as normal. Indeed owners in Building 1 have recently been contacted to sign their construction notifications.  Building 5 has now been elevated to first floor level. Our offices are in full operation and indeed we made 4 sales this week to North Europeans on holiday in El Gouna. That alone has to be a significant benchmark of respect.

We have always told you that come whatever, El Gouna carries on, we had hoped that we would never have to prove this to you for real and it would just remain words. However, the resort has passed this test with flying colours and only guests whose countries or tour operators decided  on “No travel to Egypt and forced repatriation” programmes have left the resort. Other guests, if given the choice, opted to stay and  are enjoying the good weather, a game of golf and all the fun of the resort as normal.  The Sawiris family have made El Gouna their base during these troubles and indeed on an interview in CNN El Gouna was declared to be the safest place in Egypt.

It is a significant fact that around 65% of the owners in El Gouna are high net worth Egyptians from the major cities. El Gouna has been seen to be a complete haven. That fact alone will only reinforce the domestic demand for real estate within resort.

Finally, many of you when you bought expressed concerned about Mubarak and regime. Indeed, some investors did not buy because they did not approve of investing in a country run as a dictatorship fearing that an upheaval would only lead to fundamentalism. However, one thing that these protests have shown that the religious element in these protests is minimal and that the demands are based purely on economic and constitutional reform.  Should there be  transition to such a welcome style of government, in spite of the short term disruptions, then the medium and long term future for real estate investment in Egypt will be very bright indeed as the big “What happens when “ factor will be removed . So those of your sceptical friends or colleagues who might be adopting the “told you so” approach when discussing this investment issue might be shown to be a little premature with their assessments.

As I previously stated, it is business as usual. So if you do have any further questions, please do not hesitate to call or email me: +201 00820810 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

In the meantime, we hope to welcome you all back over the next few months and you can see all of the above  for yourselves.

Best Wishes from us all,

EDWARD HILL- INTERNATIONAL SALES AND MARKETING DIRECTOR, ANCIENT SANDS RESORT