El Gouna

El Gouna is an Egyptian tourist resort owned by Egyptian businessman Samih Sawiris. This resort is located on the shores of the Red Sea, in the Red Sea Governorate, north of Hurghada. It features superb infrastructure, excellent services, natural beaches and sunshine all year round. The place was projected in 1989.

This tourist city is easily accessible from Europe via the nearby Hurghada International Airport. On the other hand, the city site provides good access to many of Egypt’s natural wonders, historical sites and archaeological treasures. The old temples in Luxor and Aswan are only a short drive away. Daily excursions from this place can be arranged to Luxor, Aswan, Cairo and Sinai. At the same time, El Gouna welcomes all sea trips from the nearby resorts to it.

Many European and American architects designed the buildings of El Gouna in a style similar to traditional Egyptian architecture, such as those found in the Egyptian countryside and Nubia.

This vast resort village is divided into downtown, Tamr Henna Square, and Mursi Abu Tig.

There are 18 hotels in El Gouna with 2895 rooms. These hotels rate from 3 to 5 stars. It hosts a golf course designed by Gene Bates and Fred Couples. Moreover, a second golf course real estate project, Ancient Sands Golf Resort, designed by acclaimed golf course architect Karl Litten, was opened in 2012.

El Gouna has a fully equipped International hospital that can handle many medical treatments, including dentistry, plastic surgery, paediatrics, ophthalmology and general surgery. It also features an intensive care unit and a decompression chamber in case of diving accidents.

The town hosts the El Gouna International School, a campus of the TU Berlin, an Environmental Geographic Information System and a small private airport for charter aircraft. There are also three marinas: Abydos Marina, the Abu Tig Marina, and the Abu Tig Marina Extension, which is currently in its last construction phase and can receive superyachts.

The town also houses a small museum with 90 exhibits (including statue replicas and an exhibition hall of contemporary Egyptian paintings by Hussein Bikar), which opened in 1996.

El Gouna specializes in many water sports activities _ including diving, windsurfing, water skiing, and aerial skiing. El Gouna has many beaches, such as Mangrove Beach and Zaytouna.

Other attractions and activities around town include a small aquarium, a go-kart track, a paintball arena, tennis courts, horse stables and a football stadium.

Interestingly, the local football team, El Gouna FC, currently plays in the Egyptian premier league.

In El Gouna, you can also find a Mosque and a Coptic Church, the Church of St. Mary and the Archangels.

The place now has its international fame. It is worth mentioning that in 2017, an annual film festival, the El Gouna Film Festival, was established.