The Analysis of the Tourism Sector in Egypt - Essay Example

?Tourism Management in Egypt "With combined receipts making up approximately 5% of GDP or over $4 billion annually," the tourism sector constitutes one of the most important sectors in Egypt ("Egypt Report"). Having one third of the monuments and antiquities in the world including temples, museums and ancient castles that date back to different eras and civilizations, Egypt is supposed to be one of the most distinguished tourism destinations in the world. However, the tourism sector in Egypt is suffering from major economic, social, and environmental problems that prevent Egypt to be one of the world's top touristic destinations. In comparison with other places that have much less monuments and artifacts, such as France, Egypt is ranked at the bottom of the list of the top tourism destinations of the world. While France is ranked as the 1st with over 81 million tourists visiting the country every year, and Mexico is ranked as 10th attracting 22 million tourists a year, Egypt is attracting only 8 million tourists. These statistics reflect the fact that Egypt is not successful in manipulating all the factors that may enable the country to be one of the top tourism destinations in the world. The attitude of low class Egyptians towards tourists, the destruction of the environment, and the lack of effective publicity campaigns are the main problems, which hider the development of the tourism sector in Egypt, requiring extensive efforts to be done from the government in order to revive this sector. The first problem that the tourism sector in Egypt faces is the attitude of the low class citizens towards tourists. This sort of problem can be observed in almost any place where tourists exist in Egypt. Harassment is the clearest annoyance directed towards tourists by many Egyptians. For example, tourists are always victims of over pricing by many shop owners and vendors in tourist places. Also, beggars harass tourists wherever they go in a manner that annoys those tourists severely. Accordingly, those harassed tourists may develop a negative feeling towards Egypt, making it hard to convince them to revisit Egypt. Actually, there are many researches, which show that the impression a tourist develops about a certain place affects his decision for visiting this same place in the future. In a research that was conducted in the small village of Bighodi in Uganda about the reason behind the increase in the number of tourists visiting this village, it was discovered that the residents of this village have a positive attitude towards tourists (Lepp). This attitude results from their awareness that tourism increases the income of the village, improves agricultural markets, and helps in community development. This research shows the strong effect of the residents' attitude in increasing or decreasing the number of tourists visiting a specific place. Although Bighodi is a small village in a poor country that lacks sources and services that are essential for any touristic country to have, yet the welcoming attitude of the citizens of Bighodi succeeds in attracting tourists from different places in the world. Thus, the case of the Bighodi village gives a clear indication about the effect of people’s behavior towards tourists on the revival of the tourism sector in a given place. Consequently, it is hard to revive the tourism sector in Egypt without changing the bad behavior of some Egyptians towards tourists. The main solution for this problem of the bad attitude towards tourists in Egypt is to develop awareness among Egyptians about the importance of tourism for the economy of the country. Again, the Egyptian government may take guidance in the experience of the village of Bighodi. The residents of Bighodi were not taught how to treat tourists and how to be welcoming to them, but their good attitude comes out of their awareness of the importance of tourism to their village. For example, the Egyptian government should make it clear for the people that the tourism industry in the country forms almost 15% of the national income and over 100000 of the labor force ("Egypt Report"). That is, Egyptian people should learn that the economy will suffer when the number of tourists decline. Within this illumination campaign, Egyptian should learn that lots of them are either directly or indirectly benefiting from the tourism industry, and by then, they will know how to treat tourists appropriately. The government should have a major role in trying to solve this problem, as it should hold awareness campaigns that shows people the importance of tourism and warns them of the consequences of their negative attitude towards tourists and how this attitude will affect the tourism industry and the whole country. The audience of these campaigns should be considered as they are all low class citizens which mean that these campaigns should be held in a simple and understandable way in order to reach all the audience, for example it should not include speaking in foreign language or even complicated Arabic language, the way campaigns are held should be as simple as possible. Also, these campaigns should be reachable and affordable, for example it should be held on the national T.V channels or radio channels instead of the satellite channels to make sure that it can be reached by every one. Therefore, increasing awareness about the importance of tourism for Egypt will help in changing the attitude of most Egyptians towards tourists in a positive manner. Furthermore, there are various environmental problems that affect the tourism sector in Egypt negatively, including air and water pollution, and the destruction of the coral reefs. Basically, pollution is a problem that Cairo specifically is suffering from. Air pollution in Egypt has become a health threatening problem. The city of Cairo has one of the highest pollution percentages in the world, even among the capitals of the industrialized countries. Industries, transportation and burning are the three main sources of air pollution in Egypt. As proven in various official studies, "industries contribute with the highest percentage of air pollution, the formation of the levels of dust, small particles and soot are more characteristic in Egypt than presently found in industrialized countries" (Hassanein). In addition, one of the clearest signs of air pollution in Egypt is the black cloud phenomenon, which first appeared in Egypt 10 years ago. Scientists describe this black cloud as "an inky haze of pollution, that comes with a noxious, throat-burning fumes; Farmers who burn rice straw after their harvest were accused of developing this problem" (Kenyon). Thus, these severe forms of air pollution in Egypt affect the tourism industry negatively. Since most tourists who visit the country come from countries with very low levels of air pollution, they are shocked by the amount of pollution in Egypt. Thus, it is very probable that a tourist who comes to Egypt and finds the high levels of pollution may decide not to come again. This tourist may even publicize a negative image about Egypt within his community. Therefore, pollution constitutes a major problem that hinders the development of the tourism sector in Egypt. The solution for the problem of pollution in Egypt requires both the government and the people to cooperate together in order to work out efficient solutions for it. The government should put strict laws that penalize acts that would cause any sort of pollution and people should cooperate by abiding by the law and by reporting any act that would violate these laws. In addition, there is an important role to be played by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in this concern. As argued by Dr. Salah Hassanein in his article which is entitled "What to do for the Environment in Egypt," non governmental organizations should cooperate with governmental agencies to raise awareness campaigns among Egyptians about the dangers of environment pollution and to ban deleterious environmental practices and material (Hassanein). Consequently, fighting pollution in Egypt is the first step in the process of reviving the tourism sector in the country. In this context, the campaigns to combat pollution in Egypt will have double positive effects, as it will protect the health of Egyptians and at the same time encourage tourists to come to Egypt. As a result, any plans to develop the tourism sector in Egypt require effective plans to decrease pollution levels in the country. Another environment related problem that has a negative effect on tourism in Egypt is the destruction of coral reefs along the red sea line. This place is considered one of the most important touristic areas as it is a perfect atmosphere for the growth of coral reefs, which are considered a very important tourism attraction in the area of the red sea. Thus, the destruction of coral reefs means that Egypt will lose hundreds of thousands of tourists every year who come from all over Europe to watch the coral reefs in the red sea. According to Amira El Sherif, during the period from 1990 to 2004, Egypt has lost almost 350 billion $ worth of coral reefs, which is considered a fortune, while "studies have shown that the recreational activities practiced by people in the red sea leads to the destruction of the coral reefs, due to stepping on the reef flat or stepping on the coral"(El Sherif). Therefore, the destruction of coral seas means the loss of a great number of tourists who are interested in these beautiful natural beings in the Red Sea. Thus, one way to solve this problem is for the Egyptian government to exert more effort to save coral reefs in the red sea. In addition, investment in eco-tourism can be another solution for the problem of the destruction of coral reefs. In essence, eco-tourism is defined by the International Ecotourism Society (IES) as "a responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people" (Blanka). Accordingly, wide areas in the red sea may be preserved for eco-tourism in order to attract those who are interested in visiting places that are natural without any human interference (Johnston). This form of tourism will promote environment preservation, including the protection of coral reefs. As put clear by environmentalist Piedra Blanca, "the environment is one of the primary concerns of ecotourism, which often involves travel to relatively undisturbed areas. As the tourism product is often dependent upon nature, negative impacts upon that resource should be minimized" (Blanca). Therefore, investing in eco-tourism will help preserve the Egyptian environment and attract a growing number of tourists to places, such as the Red Sea with its beautiful coral reefs. On the other hand, the issue of publicity is extremely important for attracting a growing number of tourists to Egypt. Egypt, like the rest of the Middle Eastern countries, holds the reputation that it is not a safe place to visit, due to the existence of terrorism and fundamentalism. Also, the tension on the borders due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict leaves its negative impact on the reputation of the whole region as an unstable area. To negate this negative reputation, the Egyptian government has to design effective campaign to publicize the reality of Egypt as a safe place for tourists. In this context, Mr. Hany Mansour an owner of a tourism company and a CEO at the managing company Swiss inn intl. states that the tourism sector in Egypt is not well represented in the international tourism fairs that are held all over the world. He claims that the tourism sector when promoting tourism in Egypt should stress all kinds of improvement taking place in our country if they are economical, social or political improvement, as that will have a better effect on tourists more than just listing places where tourists can visit. This effective campaign may include logos, brochures, TV commercials, print ads, and any other tool that may reach foreigners to tell them that Egypt is a good and safe place to visit. Without such effective publicity campaigns, it is hard for the Egyptian government to revive the tourism sector in the country. In conclusion, Egypt is full of resources that could make it the top tourism attraction in the world. However, there are many problems that hinder the development of the tourism sector in the country. Some of these problems are due to lack of awareness and publicity campaigns. Besides, there are other environment related issues such as pollution and the destruction of the coral reefs in the red sea line. In this context, the ministry of tourism in Egypt is responsible for designing effective publicity campaigns that would deliver a good image about Egypt as a tourist attraction. An effective cooperation between the government, individuals, and NGOs is urgently needed in order to solve all the problems that hinder the revival of the tourism sector in Egypt. Work cited Blanca, Piedra. "Ecotourism Definition." Ecuador. 30 Nov. 2011. "Egypt Report." 29 Nov 2011. El Sherif, Amira. "Coral Reef Conservation." The American University in Cairo. 18 Mar. 2008. 02 Dec. 2011. Hassanein, Salah. "What to do for the Environment in Egypt". 03 Dec. 2011. . Johnston, Leila. "Eco-tourism and Yoga in the Desert." Middle East Times 20 May 2000. 01 Dec. 2011. Kenyon, Peter. "Egyptians Battle the Black Cloud of Cairo". NPR. 30 Nov. 2011. Lepp, Andrew. "Residents’ Attitudes towards Tourism in Bighodi Village, Uganda." Kent State University. 30 Nov. 2011. Saad, Rehab. "Mixed Signals." Al-Ahram Weekly. Issue No. 753. 28 Jul. - 3 Aug. 2005. 01 Dec. 2011. Read More