Pushing for improved hospitality services in times of low tourism rates, Ashraf Salman, Egypt’s minister of investment, recently inaugurated an EGP2.4 billion ($305 million) hotel project in Sharm El-Sheikh, spanning 250,000 sq m, a report said.

The new hotel project comprises 800 rooms and a variety of recreational areas and services, along with 100,000-sq-m area for the establishment of water games, the Daily News Egypt reported.

The opening comes at a time of diminishing tourist visits following the Russian plane crash in October 2015.

According to Salman, improving the infrastructure of hotels, training personnel in the fields of services and hospitality and expansion of existing hotels is necessary at these times, the report said.

Egypt relies on tourism as one of its sources of foreign exchange as well as foreign direct investments, and represents a significant part of the Egyptian income.

“Any addition to hotel capacity in Sharm El-Sheikh and other tourist areas in Egypt contributes to increasing tourism and attracts inflows to Egypt and provide tourists with options,” the report quoted Salman as saying.

Post the Russian plane crash, Egypt’s tourism sector has been losing EGP 2.2 billion ($279.6 million) per month, Hisham Zaazou, Minister of Tourism, said.