"The El Gezira is a part of my heart, but I am always looking for new challenges." Who is saying this is Gamal Mahmoud (picture right), as the owner of two guest houses in a way a little hotel-king on the West Bank. A man, who was doing pioneering work and points now again the way to the future. The job as a hotel owner is in his blood.

With tourism business Gamal Mahmoud started like usual on the West Bank - as a donkey guide. After that he was working as a tour leader for the German company "extratours" from Göttingen, a connection which still is on the run. First steps in hotel business Gamal did in the "El Andaluz" in Hurghada. Later on he rented the "Madkuz" in Luxor before he built up the "El Gezira" as his first hotel.

At this time it was a risk to open a hotel in El Gezira. Tourists stayed in the hotels on the East Bank, in Luxor, had only a short view to the small village on their way to the archaelogical sites. But his idea came to fruition. After a short time the "El Gezira" became a meeting point of individual tourists, who preferred to visit the West Bank on their own ways. Individualism - that until today is Gamals recipe of success. Therefore the "El Gezira" (picture below) means the world to him.

But he had no idea to have a rest on his success. As a pioneer of hotel business in El Gezira he was looking for new challenges. So Gamal established the "Gezira Gardens" (picture below left: the entrance to the small resort) - once more a step of pioneer work. In the beginning there was an apartment hotel, the first one on the West Bank. "We liked to do something extraordinairy, we liked to combine the amenities of a hotel with the independence people find in a private flat," explains Gamal the basic idea. And it worked.

But Gamal wouldn’t be himself, if he wouldn’t try out always new ideas. The apartment hotel "Gezira Gardens" was extended with a wing of hotel rooms. And he is looking for something very new. The first swimming pool in El Bairat, of which El Gezira is a part. "We will build up a pool on the roof terrace seized ten by five metres and also a small pool for children," Gamal says. Following his philosophy. "More and more tourists like to go their own ways, are looking for individual holidays - but also for conveniences."

For him this means the future for tourism business on the West Bank . "We have to offer quality, to offer everytime something new, something special. Only then we will have a chance on the market. If on the West Bank we offer all the same, from my point of view in the long term we will loose our guests."

The most impressive example for this variety of products are the two hotels of the family man Gamal (he is married to the German Britta, feels proud for his two daughters Dina and Salma). On one hand there is the "El Gezira" representing the style of a rural family hotel. On the other hand there is the new and elegant "Gezira Gardens", built up in modern style with several restaurants, international menu and apartments. Two hotels which are not comparable, looking for different groups of clients. But exactly this is the target for Gamal. Even at least both hotels are run in the same way of philosophy: individual holidays with conveniences. So at the end they are comparable - result of the pioneer work of Gamal.

Click to find facts and contacts Hotel "El Gezira" and "Gezira Gardens"