As part of its repositioning strategy in Egypt the Mövenpick Hotel Cairo-Heliopolis will be handed back to the owning company, Arab World Egypt Air Hotels, on 1 June 2007.

As of that date, the property will no longer be under the management of the Swiss international hotel group.

The decision to discontinue managing the hotel is the result of differing views between the owning company and Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts with regard to product quality, strategy and tenure. "Unfortunately, we could not agree on market positioning and management rights, and so had no choice but to end our longstanding cooperation," said Jean Gabriel Pérès, President & CEO of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts.

"We are currently repositioning ourselves in Egypt and aim to offer our guests the same high standards of quality and service in all our hotels," explained Josef Kufer, Senior Vice President Africa Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts.

"We are now at an advanced stage of negotiations with several potential partners, who have shown considerable interest in cooperating with Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts. We are confident that we shall soon have the opportunity to announce major new projects within Egypt," Josef Kufer added.